The Dictatorship
I’m a former U.S. intelligence officer. Trump’s Ukraine betrayal will have terrible consequences.
The United States is doing it again: walking away from allies. It is almost as if each U.S. presidency needs to practice betrayal as a form of statecraft. The examples of men and women who counted on our support are many. George H.W. Bush with the Kurds. Barack Obama with the Syrians. Donald Trump and Joe Biden with the Afghans. And now, Trump with the Ukrainians. America, the dependable ally, we are not.
I served as a U.S. intelligence officer in the field, often in dangerous conflict zones from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan. I retired before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but as the Trump administration abandons this former American ally, PTSD is setting in for many of my ilk: the actual operational practitioners of U.S. foreign policy. We were “on the ground,” far from Congress and the Situation Room, far from think tanks and academic institutions. We were the first ones in, parachuted into conflicts with the implication that the proverbial cavalry would be on the way shortly.
This clear policy shift is nevertheless subtle enough that many Americans may not understand it.
My U.S. government colleagues and I were upfront and personal with our allies, whoever they were. At times, we were even in harm’s way, just like our allies. We lived side by side with them, broke bread with them, rejoiced in their successes and mourned their deaths. We made grand promises, offered platitudes and provided assistance — at least initially. Yet so often there is no fairy-tale ending, as time and time again politicians decided that the going had gotten too tough or that political expediency outweighed morality.
I once told a four-star U.S. Army general that I was lucky to work with the finest fighting force in eastern Afghanistan. He looked around puzzled, seeing no U.S. troops at the small front-line paramilitary base where we were standing. But I was singing the praises of the group of Afghan Indigenous fighters whom we were on the way to inspect. The general was not amused, yet no truer comment could ever have been said about the bravery of the Afghans. But years after the hasty U.S. withdrawal from their country, many of those who helped fight the Taliban are still on the run. Tens of thousands of interpreters, engineers and other noncombatant allies have been left behind to face starvation, poverty and retribution.
Many of us, however, thought Ukraine would really be different. This was a classic story of right versus wrong, of “David vs. Goliath,” and the U.S. did come to Ukraine’s aid once Russian forces were on the move. Since then, Ukraine has exacted hundreds of thousands of casualties on the Russian invaders. Behind the scenes, the U.S. has reportedly provided critical military and intelligence assistance — without a drop of U.S. blood shed.
Did the U.S. do enough? No. Biden’s fear of possible escalation with Russia squandered too many opportunities, to the immense frustration of Ukraine, its soldiers and its supporters. But $60 billion in aid is not small potatoes. The Ukrainians fight valiantly and bravely, proving time and again that they would never be defeated. With the backing of the world’s greatest superpower, anything was possible.
Yet now, the Trump administration appears eager to walk away from Ukraine. Details of exactly how remain murky. The president and those around him are not talking with one voice. Trump says one thing one day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth another, Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Keith Kellogg something else the next. Yet one thing appears abundantly clear: The U.S. is not an ally of Ukraine any longer. At best, America is now a neutral party, and at worst complicit in its demise.
Our adversaries even now must be celebrating; there are surely open vodka bottles in the Kremlin.
This clear policy shift is nevertheless subtle enough that many Americans may not understand it. But for Ukrainians, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in particular, there is no doubt about the United States’ intentions. At the Munich Security Conference last week, Zelenskyy repeatedly pleaded that Ukraine needs the U.S. to support it against Russia, not to mediate between the two. Not only was Trump unpersuaded, he blamed Ukraine for starting the war — an allegation that is of course patently false.
Trust is so hard to gain, and yet so easily lost. And though some of the Trump team’s errors — such as Hegseth’s statement that Ukraine would never join NATO — were walked back, the damage is already done. Each concession to Russia gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a victory even before negotiations begin. One former U.S. senior intelligence officer told me that Ukraine, even in the best-case scenario, will look now at the U.S. from the vantage of a spouse scorned by infidelity.
I have spoken with numerous retired U.S. national security practitioners who have worked globally countering Russian aggression, including those who spent the last decade in and out of Ukraine, asking them what the recent U.S. policy change personally meant to them. Often there is a long silence. Then a sigh. A former intelligence officer said his thoughts immediately went to the scores of Ukrainians with whom he worked — their incredible sense of resolve and will to fight. Some have recently visited Ukraine to make contact with old friends. It was difficult for them to look old Ukrainian partners in the eye as the U.S. shifts from ally to neutral player, or maybe worse.
My former colleagues’ thoughts shifted to the future as well. Many stated that this betrayal was the big one: epic in its scope, with far-reaching consequences for the next fight, likely with China. The fallout will be even worse than the Afghans left to fend for themselves. It will now be impossible for anyone to trust the U.S. as an ally. Our adversaries even now must be celebrating; there are surely open vodka bottles in the Kremlin.
Is this what Trump wants as his legacy? Does “America First” really mean “America the Betrayer”? Or will this White House come to its senses, stop pushing for an unjust peace deal and actually allow Ukrainians agency in their future?
Marc Polymeropoulos is a national security and intelligence contributor for BLN and a former CIA senior intelligence service officer who served 26 years in a variety of operational and management positions focusing on the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and counterterrorism.
A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and attended a partisan event, then lied when confronted with the allegations, has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice raised questions about her ability to be impartial.
The Justice Department sought to remove U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross from the case, citing her reported attendance at an event for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who prosecuted President Donald Trump. Ross on Tuesday filed an order recusing herself, writing that she was doing so “out of an abundance of caution for the potential perception of bias.”
The Justice Department had sued Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger seeking an unredacted statewide voter list, and Ross was presiding over that case.
“Both the Trump administration’s present and Willis’s past efforts have become heavily polarized,” Ross wrote, explaining that she “cannot discount” that an objective observer might interpret her attendance at an event sponsored by Willis’ campaign as support for the district attorney’s position, even if she only went to see former colleagues.
Ross received a “private reprimand” after a court investigation found that she had sex in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within earshot of staff, attended a partisan event and then initially lied to deny the allegations.
The investigation report says Ross went to an event hosted by a district attorney’s campaign. The judge said the district attorney had been a friend since 1999 and acknowledged having gone to the a private mixer held on the sidelines of the event to visit with former colleagues in the district attorney’s office.
Ross previously worked in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and overlapped there with Willis there before Willis was district attorney.
Willis in August 2023 obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. That case was ultimately dismissed in November.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is rallying support within the State Department to help secure a visa for the mother of a World Cup goalkeeper who was unable to attend her newly-famous son’s match in the United States.
Jeffries learned of the situation after Republic of Cabo Verde goalkeeper Josimar Dias helped his team secure a 0-0 draw with Spain during the island nation’s World Cup debut on Monday. Dias stunned fans after making seven saves against the 2010 World Cup champions.
Dias told ESPN that his mother was unable to attend the match in the U.S. because of difficulties obtaining a visa.
“She didn’t manage to be here because of the visa,” Dias said in press conference after the match, noting that the World Cup was the “most important moment of our lives.”
“The money we have to pay for the visa, we didn’t manage on time. And I would like her to be here,” the goalie said.
After learning of Dias’ story, Jeffries said he reached out to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in hopes of helping the goalie’s mother attend Cabo Verde’s the next match in the U.S.
“No mother should miss the chance to see her child make history,” Jeffries wrote on X.
The Cabo Verde national football team shocked Spain on the strength of a historic performance by goalkeeper Vozinha.
His Mom was unable to be there because of visa complications.
No mother should miss the chance to see her child make history.
I have asked Secretary of State…
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) June 16, 2026
In an effort to prevent visitors from overstaying their visas, the U.S. State Department requires that eligible travelers from certain countries, including Cabo Verde, “must post a bond for $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.”
The Department said that it will waive those visa bond requirements during the 2026 World Cup for “athletes and team members — including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives — who are nationals of countries that are competing,” provided that they meet all visa requirements.
While Dias suggested money was a factor for his mother’s inability to attend the match, a State Department official told MS NOW that it has no record of her applying for one. The official said all relatives of players are eligible for visa bond waivers, and said the State Department is attempting to help with the matter.
Dias, known to fans as Vozinha, is significantly older than most players at 40 years old. Nevertheless, he was named FIFA’s “player of the match.”
After his standout World Cup performance, his following on his Instagram page grew from about 10,000 before Monday’s game to more than 10.5 million by Tuesday.
Cabo Verde’s next match is against Uruguay in Miami on Sunday.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
President Donald Trump celebrating his 80th birthday with UFC fights on the White House lawn was classless enough. Then Josh Hokit was given a microphone. After the UFC fighter won his cage match at Trump’s flamboyant celebration Sunday night, Hokit, who spoke mostly in disturbingly trite rhymes after his win, managed to further degrade the event. At the conclusion of his post-fight interview with announcer, podcaster and manosphere extraordinaire Joe Rogan, the athlete declared,“Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”
Many in the crowd of thousands of UFC fans ate it up, and expecting anything less would require an exceptional level of delusion. Misogynoir and transphobia have been lobbed against Obama at least since 2008, when America elected her husband, Barack Obama, president.
Misogynoir and transphobia have been lobbed against Obama at least since 2008, when America elected her husband, Barack Obama, president.
Misogynoir was coined by academic Moya Bailey in 2008 to describe the intertwining of racism and misogyny that targets Black women. As pervasive as it is, it took 15 yearsfor Merriam-Webster to add the word to its dictionary. Even in writing this piece, each time I’ve typed the term, spell-check suggests I have made a typo.
While it’s tempting to categorize Hokit’s remark as random, it was fully on brand for the athlete. ESPN reported, “In his post-fight interview at UFC 324 in January, Hokit called WNBA star Brittney Griner ‘a man.’”
He’s the poster child for misogynoir.
But his statement was also characteristic of the machismo that drove the event itself. Trump’s entire political persona is crafted in the mold of a strongmanan archetype that couldn’t exist without toxic masculinity. And when he was elected to the presidency a second time, Trump brought back to the forefront an erroneous vision of manhood. Hokit, and a lamentable number of other public figures, have since been empowered to espouse misogyny and preach the shallow gospel of toxic masculinity.
But showmanshiprepressed emotionality and a desperate adherence to benighted notions of manhood alone don’t suffice. Toxic masculinity also requires an allegiance to the desirability politics that are often informed by white supremacy. And Hokit gave it a shoutout Sunday night.
If toxic masculinity is a declaration of what we are expected to perceive as a quintessential depiction of manhood, then completing that picture requires a similar declaration about what we are expected to perceive as a quintessential depiction of womanhood. As has historically been the case, the beauty of Black women, as a whole, doesn’t align with mainstream ideals of attractiveness. So a Trump supporter’s recycling of a racist trope about the first Black first lady being a man was a natural offshoot of Sunday’s glorification of problematic masculinity.
Obama addressed misogynoir-laden and transphobic insults, among others, that she has faced over the years in her 2018 book “Becoming.” She writes, “I’ve smiled for photos with people who call my husband horrible names on national television, but still want a framed keepsake for their mantel. I’ve heard about the swampy parts of the internet that question everything about me, right down to whether I’m a woman or a man. A sitting U.S. congressman has made fun of my butt. I’ve been hurt. I’ve been furious. But mostly, I’ve tried to laugh this stuff off.”
I’ve been furious. But mostly, I’ve tried to laugh this stuff off.
michelle obama in her book “becoming”
Hokit thumping his chest after a violent brawl per the request of a strongman-in-chief, then deriding a high-profile Black female figure as masculine and thus, unappealing, was a true full-circle moment for the manosphere. Notice that Hokit didn’t do a full stop after he insulted Obama. He asked, “Am I right, America?”
At least that part made actual sense — Hokit’s instinct to seek validation is yet another manifestation of toxic masculinity. His question offered a boisterous representation of the need for male approval that exists in the manosphere and the willingness of problematic men to give one another an outsized influence on their behavior. It wasn’t enough for Hokit to disparage a prominent Black woman. He wanted someone to say, “Well done.”
As for his question, the answer is “no.” Hokit was the farthest from “right” as one gets. But the derision of Obama surely scored him brownie points in the manosphere. What better way to secure a nod of respect from the community than to denigrate, arguably, the most high-profile Black woman in the United States while at an event teeming with hypermasculinity?
But neither Obama nor any other woman, Black or otherwise, should have to bear the burden of men insulting them in a desperate quest to secure approbation from other men.
Hokit appears to be developing a habit of ascribing masculinity to Black women. He would be better served by questioning why his idea of manhood includes belittling women for applause.
Zahara Hill is a coordinating producer for MS NOW. She previously worked as a front page editor for HuffPost and the deputy editor for Blavity News.
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