Trump’s executive order waiving the sanctions against Russia called for by the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act raises a question: Is Mr. Trump Leader of the Free World or just a man who does Vladimir Putin’s bidding?
No genuine Leader of the Free World could shirk the duty assigned by Congress to impose sanctions that would stop the funding of the Russian War machine by purchasers of Russian oil, gas and diesel. It is Mr. Trump though who proposes we get in on the get rich deals for purchases from Russia enabling death raining over Ukraine.
Nor is it legal under the US Code for Mr. Trump to arrange for the US to purchase diesel from Mr. Putin for any reason, much less in a desperate, ineffective attempt to affect the price before the election (Pub. L. 117-145, 2022). Yet, that is the deal he came up with.
My wife and I did not spend hard-earned money to go to Washington in September to join with hundreds of other members of the American Coalition for Ukraine (ACU), to advocate for the Lindsey Graham Act, only to watch Mr. Trump pull the rug out—especially after the overwhelming bipartisan vote September 16 for passage.
The great satisfaction felt upon the bill’s passage as we returned has evaporated. Mr. Trump’s executive order abandons the sanctions authorized by the Act—just when they were to start two days later, October 18. And for what?
Putin has thanked Mr. Trump for his weak proposals for Ukraine to give up territory (surrendering the Donbas fortress belt protecting Kyiv), by sending still more ballistic missiles—all the while Mr. Trump demands Ukraine, not Russia, back off. Yet, from Mr. Trump not a word of criticism of Mr. Putin. Ever. Why is that?
My wife and I joined up with Rodney Mast, a farmer of 9,000 acres outside Columbus and father of three adopted children from Ukraine, in D.C., motivated to stop the Russian War machine. The meetings with our Congressional delegation were moving.
I am so glad to learn that many of the Mississippi Congressional staffers with professional responsibilities to advise on foreign relations have had the experience of personally visiting Ukraine. They know hands on what is at stake.
In one meeting we were accompanied by two young Ukrainian soldiers injured by the Russians, one missing a leg, the other missing ribs. They had fought bravely as warriors to defend their land and their families against the brutal invader that would enslave them. Representative Trent Kelly (himself a war veteran of long military experience), was moved to give each of those brave men commemorative medals.
In another of the meetings we were accompanied by a soldier who had been held captive for two years and tortured by the Russians. In another we had with us a US Gold Star mother whose son, formerly in the United States armed forces, had been killed fighting for the cause of freedom in Ukraine.
Every member of our Congressional delegation whose offices we visited with those men or the Gold Star mother voted for the Lindsey Graham Act. If we are to stand with the causes of freedom and western civilization against a cruel dictator’s barbarity, that is the way it should be.
At the moment Mr. Trump announced his diesel deal, Mississippi’s Senior Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman of Senate Armed Services, was in Kyiv meeting with President Zelensky. The Senator was seeking a way to resolve the war while ensuring the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine.
Senator Wicker is to be commended for meeting with President Zelensky directly. The Wicker proposal is to extend Starlink coverage 300 km into Russia so Ukraine can take out missile launchers (focusing on archers, not arrows), in exchange for a 100 day pause by Ukraine on Russian energy.
President Trump should listen to our Senator, not to Mr. Putin. The Wall Street Journal reports President Zelensky is open to Senator Wicker’s proposal. (For more: Editorial Board, WSJ, “Zelensky is Open to a Starlink Deal”, October 15, 2026).
Mr. Trump is not going to find solutions in Moscow. He should quit trying. His efforts to hold President Zelensky back appear prompted by Ukraine’s recent tactical successes toward collapsing Russia’s economy. Please contribute to the Dignitas Fund training Ukraine’s superb drone operators: www.dignitas.fund
President Zelensky through courage and determination in the face of the foe has proven himself the Winston Churchill of our time. He is a leader of the Free World at its bleeding edge. I abhor the disrespectful, dismissive way Mr. Trump speaks of President Zelensky. It is not what we should expect from a President of the United States of America—the greatest constitutional democracy seen since the leader Pericles stood before the Assembly of the first democracy in Athens almost 2,500 years ago.
Robert P. Wise is a Northsider.
