Meeting with Georgian opposition parliamentarians on Wednesday, I came away with one obvious conclusion: President Trump should visit that small nation in the Caucasus region.
He would certainly be greeted kindly.
After all, Trump did in his first year what Barack Obama failed to do in all eight years of his presidency: He authorized the sale of desperately needed military equipment to Georgia. When I asked Giga Bokeria, a senior parliamentarian, what Georgians seek from America, Bokeria was clear: greater solidarity. While Bokeria and his colleagues are very grateful for Trump’s continuing support, they face a growing challenge from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Having seized various areas of Georgian territory in the aftermath of the two nations’ 2008 war, Putin is now escalating his harassment of Georgia-controlled territory.
In part, this seems to be because of a renewed Russian sense of opportunity in Georgia. Orchestrated behind the scenes by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the current Georgian government has turned an increasingly blind eye to Russian aggression. Putin thus believes he can extract more from that government by increasing his own pressure.
That brings us back to Trump.
Because a visit to Georgia would show American leadership for democracy. Even if Trump stayed off the topic of Russia, his very presence would encourage that nation of 3.7 million people by showing that the leader of the free world cares about its future. And it would allow Trump to show, even as the impeachment saga rumbles on, that America continues to stand as the world’s greatest force for democracy.
