Alan Zendell, June 2, 2025

There is little in the Old Testament that can be taken to be literally true, but its books and stories do a good job describing human nature and shaping our values. Perhaps one of its most pervasive morals is to never underestimate a weaker-seeming adversary. Americans, especially, have always been drawn to underdog stories, but when I refer to Americans, I do not include Donald Trump, who only sees underdogs as prey.

Yesterday, we had a biblical event, when David (i.e., the Ukrainian armed forces) took Goliath (the entire Russian military apparatus) by surprise. The latest incarnation of David didn’t use a stone in a sling, however. Instead, the attack that seriously tarnished Goliath’s reputation as a fearsome fighter was carried out with 117 drones. It took everyone including the White House by surprise, and today, military analysts are heaping praise on the brilliant, patient planning that went into the attack that may have destroyed a third of the aircraft Russia has been using to bomb Ukrainian cities.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is neither biblical allegory nor fairy tale. It’s a vicious, deadly conflict driven by an implacable autocrat’s ambition to rebuild the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin is not likely to roll over and play dead because of a stone flung at his forehead. And Volodymyr Zelensky, no matter how much we may cheer for him, does not have the resources to defeat Russia on his own. The story from the Book of Samuel isn’t a valid analogy. The reasons should serve as a dire warning.

Ukraine’s ability to successfully strike and severely degrade five Russian military bases separated by more than two thousand miles with absolutely no resistance and no casualties, was extremely impressive. It’s not likely to cause Putin to flinch during the alleged peace talks in Istanbul, but it sends a serious message to the rest of us, who have been consoling ourselves with the belief that although who wins this conflict matters, it’s not really our war. We keep hoping it’s not Europe’s either, but what Ukraine did, yesterday, belies that.

Ukraine demonstrated with a single coordinated attack with limited resources, how quickly the conflict could encompass targets all over Europe, and with us on the sidelines, it’s not clear what NATO would do. Trump’s ego requires him to continue to see himself as a savior with some magical ability to turn Putin into a decent human being. It’s clear, however, that that’s just another of Trump’s delusions. Putin couldn’t care less about Trump, except to manipulate him to get what he wants. We can only hope Putin is smart enough to realize that Trump’s new nickname, TACO, doesn’t apply here.

It doesn’t really apply to his tariff war, either. Anyone who thinks Trump chickens out on tariffs is as delusional as Trump. His tariffs are like a professional boxer’s jabs. Remember when Muhammed Ali taunted his opponents, “dancing like a butterfly,” taking random shots that did little damage, but seriously messed with the other boxers’ heads? Trump doesn’t chicken out, even when any rational person should. He’s incapable of it, not because he’s a courageous warrior, but because his very serious mental illness won’t permit him to. Trump only knows how to double down when he’s backed against a wall. It’s what extreme narcissists always do.

The risk should be obvious to everyone. Putin will never back down until a coup among his own people takes him out. Trump will never back down unless he’s put in a strait jacket and dragged out of the White House by saner heads, but there’s no evidence that any of those exist among the MAGA movement. The whole point of Project 2025 was to attack relentlessly on every front until someone had the guts and resources to stop them.

Trump’s not a master strategist. He’s more a prisoner of his own limitations. If he can’t deliver on his brag about ending the war on day 153 or day 500, there’s no reason to believe diplomacy can save the situation. In 1962, the world averted nuclear war because despite his bluster and reputation, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was a shrewd statesman who understood that everyone would lose if he didn’t back off, since the Kennedy administration had backed itself into an untenable corner.

Putin isn’t Khrushchev, and no one can assure that he wouldn’t risk the destruction of Russia, Europe, or the entire world to achieve his goals. Ukraine’s successful retaliatory attack on Russia, yesterday, showed us how quickly the war that isn’t ours could escalate.

A rational president with objective, expert advisors would know that trusting Putin and failing to defend Ukraine are a disastrous strategy. But if you’re a fan of world wars, it’s a brilliant tactic. Trump can go ahead with peace talks with an adversary who will never back down or concede territory, but if he doesn’t ramp up weapons deliveries to Ukraine immediately, Europe and the world are both at risk.