What ‘peace through strength’ really means

Published October 3, 2025 4:10am ET



President Donald Trump is a surprising man. After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late last month at the United Nations General Assembly, he issued a Truth Social post announcing he believes that nation “would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” Trump subsequently announced that he supported NATO countries shooting down Russian aircraft violating the alliance’s airspace. It seemed to be a complete shift in European security policy. Kremlin spokesmen in Moscow were thrown into apoplexy by the sudden shift, and Western analysts reacted with stunned confusion.

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