Why Mark Esper hoped Democrats would win presidency in 2020:

[tblue37]

Link to tweet

Text

Susan Glasser
@sbg1
Can confirm.

Christian Vanderbrouk
@UrbanAchievr
Replying to @UrbanAchievr
"In fact, Trump had privately indicated that he would seek to withdraw from NATO and to blow up the U.S. alliance with South Korea, should he win reelection...

“Yeah, the second term,” Trump had said. “We’ll do it in the second term.”
https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/13/book-excerpt-i-alone-can-fix-it/

snip

Esper was a lifelong Republican and had worked at the conservative Heritage Foundation as well as for Republican senators Bill Frist and Chuck Hagel. But he told his closest colleagues that as he watched TV news anchors cover the election results, he found himself rooting for the Democrat. Esper had worked with Biden and his secretary of state in waiting, Antony Blinken, when he was a senior staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had confidence that they were serious, stable people who cared deeply about shoring up national security. Esper couldn’t say the same about Trump. In fact, Trump had privately indicated that he would seek to withdraw from NATO and to blow up the U.S. alliance with South Korea, should he win reelection. When those alliances had come up in meetings with Esper and other top aides, some advisers warned Trump that shredding them before the election would be politically dangerous.

“Yeah, the second term,” Trump had said. “We’ll do it in the second term.”

[PA Democrat]

1. Makes you wonder if Trump made promises to his good buddies

Putin and Kim Jong-un.

[Wingus Dingus]

2. No surprise, Trump shit on NATO every chance he got.

Putin didn't love him for his sexy hair.

[patphil]

3. Blowing up NATO was exactly what Putin wanted.

The fact that he isn't waiting for Trump to be reelected means he doesn't believe Trump will be.
I think he sees Trump's legal problems as ending his chances to be on the 2024 ticket, and he's decided to move his plan forward and bully his way through.
Once he's in Ukraine, it will be difficult to dislodge him. And then it's just gobble up the rest of Ukraine one bite at a time.
I think the only way to stop this is for NATO to accept Ukraine as a member immediately, and also offer EU membership.
I don't believe we will be able to prevent the annexation of the Donbass region without engaging in a ground war, and that's not going to happen. But, we may be able to protect the rest of Ukraine by bringing it into the European sphere.

Outside of sanctions, which are unlikely to faze Putin, that's about all we can do.