The order to halt shipments, for example, came from Hegseth, but the original idea was reportedly driven by Colby, who backed the moves because, according to NBC, he has “long advocated scaling back the U.S. commitment in Ukraine and shifting weapons and resources to the Pacific region to counter China.” (Per the NBC reporting, an analysis from the Joint Staff showed that Colby is wrong to think of this as an either-or situation; the Ukrainians need weapons that the U.S. wouldn’t even be using in a conflict in the Pacific.) The Trump White House’s policy process—insofar as it can be called a “process”—is the type found in many authoritarian states, where the top levels of government tackle the one or two big things the leader wants done and everything else tumbles down to other functionaries, who can then drive certain issues according to their own preferences (which seems to be what Colby is doing), or who will do just enough to stay under the boss’s radar and out of trouble (which seems to be what most other Trump appointees are doing). Less than a year into his second term, it’s clear that the goals of Trump’s 2024 run for the presidency were, in order of importance, to keep Trump out of prison, to exact revenge on Trump’s enemies, and to allow Trump and his allies to enrich themselves by every possible means.
Author: Tom Nichols
Published at: 2025-07-07 22:50:00
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