Anchorage must not be a replay of Munich

I don’t think President Donald J. Trump is a student of history; it’s not in his wheelhouse, unlike TV ratings, firing people who disagree with him, and negotiating deals.

As for the latter, what kind of a half-assed negotiator opens by talking about what concessions he will make to the guy across the table, in this case former Russian KGB officer and current dictator Vladimir Putin? Trump has made two mistakes going into Friday’s Alaska summit — first, showing any part or his hand at all, and second, saying that Russia will be granted some of Ukraine’s territory.

OK, he also said land “swaps,” to the “betterment of both.”

That is not possible. Surrender of any territory is not to Ukraine’s betterment.

What would Trump’s reaction be if Putin said he wants Alaska back? In 1867, under Secretary of State William Seward, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. 

Trump would laugh in Putin’s face, yet Putin’s attempt to seize Ukraine is the same thing, except by force of arms.

I offer Trump and MAGA a little history.

He may not see this column, but some of his supporters will. Plus people under the age of 50 to whom the word “Sudetenland” might sound like a theme park.

Let’s set the Way Back Machine for Munich in 1938, when German Chancellor Adolf Hitler insisted on occupying the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in order to “protect” numerous ethnic Germans. This was a big lie, strikingly similar to Putin’s false claim that ethnic Russians needed protection from persecution “by Nazis” in Ukraine.

Hitler threatened war if he didn’t get his way, and in the quintessential example of appeasement, the great powers of Britain and France chickened out. They ceded the Sudetenland region to Germany, without the consent of Czechoslovakia. The lesser power was forced to surrender its well-fortified border defenses — built as protection against Germany — and a significant portion of its industrial capacity. Can you hear the echo in Ukraine not being invited, so far, to the sitdown between Trump and Putin?

After the sell-out of the Czechs,  British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain foolishly claimed the agreement secured "peace for our time." 

In reality, it was a monumental miscalculation. The agreement did not buy peace; it told Hitler the democracies were timid, and that encouraged his voracious appetite.

Within months Hitler violated the “peace” agreement. In March 1939, German forces marched into the remainder of Czechoslovakia. In September he invaded Poland, which finally motivated Britain and France to declare war on Germany, which had been given a huge head start.

This history lesson only works if you believe that Putin has the same territorial designs as did Hitler.

He does.

The proof is easy to find.

Russia occupied the Crimea region of Ukraine, made incursions in Georgia and Moldova. 

In a list of “unfriendly countries” listed by Putin five share borders with Russia.

You don’t need to be a gypsy to read those cards.

Putin, who has admitted his desire to revive the unlamented Russian empire, wants to expand Russia’s borders.

As the reluctant leader of the free world, Trump’s job is to stop him.

In the war between Russia and Ukraine, anyone with an ounce of moral clarity knows that Russia was the aggressor, attacking a neighbor for no damn reason. Putin must not be rewarded with any territory conquered by force.

During his campaign for the presidency, Trump foolishly bragged he could end the conflict in 24 hours. When he found that he couldn't, mostly due to Putin, he claimed that he had been joking.

No, he hadn’t.

And he says to this day that the war would not have started on his watch, that Putin would not have dared.

If that is true, it stands to reason that Trump can end the war on his watch by intimidating Putin.

That ought to be the strategy he brings to Anchorage.

Maybe Trump can find a face-saving way for Putin to back out of the blunder that has cost him an estimated 1 million casualties. 

But here’s three things Putin can’t have: He can’t have 20% of Ukraine, he can’t have Ukraine demilitarized, he can’t have an assurance that Ukraine won’t join NATO — because joining NATO is the only protection Ukraine has against Russia rearming and restarting the war.

Not rewarding aggression is what keeps the world stable.

The lesson of Munich 1938 must not be lost in Anchorage 2025.