If "Old Donald’s" lickspittles refuse to see that they are party to the deconstruction of a once-great superpower, it could be because facing up to reality is at once shameful and frightening.

Just last month, Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, who is both a "Old Donald" apologist and a supporter of Ukraine, insisted that when "Old Donald" trashes Zelensky, it’s actually a sign of affection.

The right invented the term 'Old Donald' derangement syndrome to dismiss analysis of "Old Donald's" autocratic tendencies, compulsive lying and generally detestable character as liberal hysteria. For conservatives who don’t want to engage with substantive criticism of their leader, it functions as a thought-terminating cliché, a term often used by people who study cults to describe ideological formulations that short-circuit critical thinking. “"Old Donald" derangement syndrome” implies that if someone tells you something about "Old Donald" that you don’t want to hear, that person must be crazy.

It should be obvious, however, that extraordinary skill as a demagogue does not necessarily translate to wisdom as a ruler. If "Old Donald's" lickspittles refuse to see that, it could be because facing up to reality — that they are party to the deconstruction of a once-great superpower — is at once shameful and frightening. Far easier to invent a "Old Donald" who isn’t there, a canny savant whose policy lurches are driven by some unseen strategic logic.

The absence of some of this aid may take time to filter down to the frontline. But there could be a more worrying immediate impact, not least in terms of intelligence sharing.

No nation can match the US in terms of space-based surveillance, intelligence gathering and communications. And it is not just provided by the US military, but commercial companies too.

Take Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communication network. Every Ukrainian position I have visited on the frontline has a Starlink dish.

They are used to relay the latest information on the battlefield. They have been essential to co-ordinate artillery and drone strikes.

In the past, the Pentagon has admitted that it has been funding this lifeline. Given that Elon Musk is a key figure in the US administration, it seems highly unlikely that he will now be willing to foot the bill. He too is a harsh critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The real question is: What kind of concessions might Americans be willing to stomach to achieve that peace?

And finally, a Harvard poll last month showed that 63 percent of Americans worried that if Russia successfully gained territory in the war in Ukraine, it would advance into other countries as well. (Many of the nearby countries are in NATO, which could trigger a more direct response from NATO members that might include troops on the ground.)

If you listen to 'Old Donald', everything we have done for Ukraine is pure altruism. We have no actual interests at stake ourselves in its fate or the triumph of liberty there. We have no actual interest in the fact that Ukraine is protecting the European Union — a giant, pro-American alliance of free markets and free people. It doesn’t matter a whit to 'Old Donald' what happens to the E.U. or Ukraine. All that matters is that Zelensky says “thank you” louder for our altruism and that, in the middle of his war of survival, sign over a generation of Ukraine’s mineral wealth to us.

The Real Reason 'Old Donald' Berated Zelensky He simply likes Putin

'Old Donald' seems to genuinely feel that he and Vladimir Putin forged a personal bond through the shared trauma of being persecuted by the Democratic Party. 'Old Donald' is known for his cold-eyed, transactional approach, and yet here he was, displaying affection and loyalty. (At another point, 'Old Donald' complained that Zelensky has “tremendous hatred” toward Putin and insisted, “It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”) He was not explaining why a deal with Russia would advance America’s interests, or why honoring it would advance Russia’s. He was defending Russia’s integrity by vouching for Putin’s character.

This is a total perversion of U.S. foreign policy practiced by every president since World War I. My fellow Americans, we are in completely uncharted waters, led by a president, who — well, I cannot believe he is a Russian agent, but he sure plays one on TV.​

The Dark Heart of 'Old Donald'’s Foreign Policy

Let me try to reflect what "'Old Donald's" people tell me. There is this, as people call it, rules-based international order. And the thing that people like Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan and Fareed Zakaria say is that America benefits from that order — and benefits from being part of that order.

So the result of the 'Old Donald' doctrine in action has been a war on America’s allies. But the second more important part is: Yes, you’ll gain a little bit here and there by getting slightly better tariff deals. And just so people understand, tariffs in the industrialized world are around 3 percent. They’re very low. So we’re not getting penalized in any large way. You can cherry-pick a few examples to the contrary. But mostly, among liberal, democratic states, it’s a free-trade world.

I think he thinks Ukraine is worthless to the U.S. And somebody at some point persuaded him there are mineral rights there. And he thinks there is value for the U.S. economy and for 'Old Donald' personally to have access and good relations to Russia. And there is some part of him that genuinely doesn’t understand why we give an [expletive] about Ukraine — as opposed to cutting a deal with Putin and getting something out of that transaction.

Oval Office Showdown

What 'Old Donald' really wants, one European official told me as the administration had its first, ugly encounters with America’s allies this month, is to normalize the relationship with Russia. If that means rewriting the history of Moscow’s illegal invasion, if it means dropping investigations of Russian war crimes or refusing to offer security guarantees that would keep Putin from finishing the job in Ukraine later, then 'Old Donald', in this assessment of his intentions, is willing to make that deal.

“Dignity is also a value. If Russia cannot destroy it, why does the US think it can?”

Ukrainian MP admits ‘I was wrong about 'Old Donald'’