Trump has been anti-Ukraine since at least 2014

and his views have been in sync with Putin's

There is always a magical moment when FoxNews executives climb out of their cable entertainment mancave and decide they can’t pretend actual news doesn’t exist. The situation in Ukraine has forced them to abandon their bigscreen TV, wet bar, and bobblehead collection and try to sound on point about Ukraine, Putin, Biden, NATO, etc.

The reason FoxNews really surfaced this time has little to do with war in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine between Putin and his oligarchs has beem ongoing ever since Putin annexed Crimea illegally on February 20, 2014. It’s somehat excusable insofar as most of the U.S. media has ignored the dangers of Putin or given the problem limited coverage for more than 7 years. Now, FoxNews’s hand has been played as half of the GOP is in full revolt over the Trumpist view of Ukraine and Donald Trump, himself, is trying to repaint himself as somehow pro-Ukraine. One cannot be the propagandist for the GOP and not cover its backtracking without some political spin.

How entrenched is Trump in being anti-Ukraine?

First, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort, as part of his work as an unauthorized foreign agent, represented the Party of Regions in Ukraine and it’s leader, Viktor Yanukovych - a puppet of Putin’s oligarchs. In Manafort’s 4 months manning the Trump campaign, he put Putin’s oligarchical imprint on Trump’s foreign policy position going into the Fall campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Support for Ukraine in the GOP platform was stripped away and Trump began spouting that Putin had a right to Crimea. Once Trump was sworn in as President, he lifted the sanctions against Russia imposed by President Obama.

Second, Trump’s campaign attacks on Ukraine as “corrupt” did not simply fall into line with his general pro-Putin views. It was deliberate. The supposed “corrupt” government of Ukraine was a puppet government of Putin’s choosing. And, the aforementioned stripping away of pro-Ukraine sentiments in the GOP platform was done to attack Hillary. The 2016 Democratic Party platform and the candidate herself were pro-Ukrainian people not pro-Putin installed Ukraine government. Trump’s uneducated minions quickly fell in line as seeing Ukraine as being pro-Hillary and recoiled in horror.

Third, Trump’s anti-Ukraine rhetoric as President continued unbated. Trump went so far as to attack Ukraine on the the world stage, i.e the UN, as corrupt. During the Mueller investigation in Russian meddling into the 2016 election, Trump suggested that it was Ukraine nor Russian that was at fault. And once Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected President of Ukraine in April 2019, Trump had an opportunity to reassess his anti-Ukraine position. He did not, of course, despite people in his own Administraion, most notably Energy Secretary Rick Perry, assuring him that Zelenskyy was “anti-corruption” and worthy of getting U.S. support.

Fourth, Trump’s pro-Putin stance and policy decisions put him at odds with Ukraine continuously. Trump attacked and undermined NATO and tried unsuccessfully to get Russia admitted as a G7 nation member (which would have been a major political boon for Putin). Trump withdrew thousand of U.S. out of Germany. The troops based in Germany since the end of World War II have been major factor in limiting Soviet and later Russian aggression in Europe. And Trump withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty - the treaty allowed NATO (U.S. included) forces to do reconnaisance flights to document Russian aggression.

Fifth, Trump’s action with regard to Presidnet Zelenskyy are the foci of his First Impeachment. Trump withheld $400 million in aid unless Zelenskyy announced an investigation of Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The supposed “perfect phone call” was Trumpian to the core - “Help me and maybe I’ll help you”.

Trump cannot back away from any of this, but he can lie about it —- and many of the GOP’s elected Trump sycophants already are. The best move for the Democrats is to run ads now in the 2022 campaign cycle while the people of Ukraine has American’s attention and sympathy and Putin has their ire.