Joe Biden and the Costly Fight of the Free World

The American president is an old-school trans-Atlanticist. For him, $33 billion is an acceptable price for resisting the aggressor Putin. However, not everyone in his country sees it that way.

Thirty-three billion dollars is a lot of money. Joe Biden knows that, too. “The cost of this fight is not cheap,” the president said Thursday as he announced a new aid package for Ukraine. But Biden implied that America has no choice but to pay that price. “We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.”

Of the $33 billion Biden is asking Congress for, $20 billion is designated for the Ukrainian military, primarily for purchasing weapons and munitions. Kyiv is supposed to receive about $8.5 billion in economic aid and $3 billion for humanitarian relief. Together with the $14 billion in emergency aid, which Congress previously approved shortly after the start of the Russian attack, the sum of American aid to Ukraine is slowly approaching the $50 billion mark.

In the president’s view, this gigantic number reflects the significance the war has for the foreign and security policy interests of the United States. For one thing, Biden is a staunch trans-Atlanticist. For him, America’s security is inextricably linked to peace and security in Europe. Furthermore, Biden believes that the conflict between democracies and dictatorships is the conflict that will define the 21st century. In Biden’s opinion, resisting the aggressive autocrat Vladimir Putin, who wants to change Europe’s borders with armed violence, is therefore America’s duty.

So Far, Criticism Is Coming Mainly from the Political Extreme

The vast majority of Americans fundamentally agree with the United States in supporting Kyiv with arms and imposing sanctions on Russia. There has even been broad, bipartisan consensus so far in Congress about U.S. aid to Ukraine. However, it is unclear how long this unity will hold, and how high a cost Congress will tolerate. At the extreme ends of both political camps, at least, enthusiasm for spending several billion dollars a month for a war that is 10,000 kilometers (approximately 6,213 miles) away is not particularly high.

You can see this, for example, if you watch Tucker Carlson’s program on Fox News. Carlson has toned down the very pro-Russian line he took when the invasion began. However, on Thursday, he bitterly complained about Biden investing $33 billion in a war that, in Carlson’s opinion, is not in the interest of the United States. He believes Biden is doing a lot to prolong the war and little to achieve peace.

Make of this what you will. Carlson is influential, and his arguments are well received by the Republican base. Of the Republican candidates who are currently running in primaries for their party’s nomination ahead of the congressional midterms in November, hardly any are demanding stronger American engagement in Ukraine. On the contrary, in Ohio, candidate J.D. Vance has risen to the top despite openly admitting that he didn’t care about the fate of Ukraine. Vance says America’s government should concern itself with Americans.

Vance won Carlson’s support primarily with this attitude, among other things. Then, several days ago, an in-person endorsement followed from Donald Trump. Meanwhile, practically every conservative Republican spokesperson is campaigning with Vance. From a European perspective, this should be a warning sign. If Republicans win back the House and the Senate, as is anticipated, the benevolence for Kyiv and NATO in Washington could quickly change. That is especially true considering that, in the event the Democrats suffer such a loss, even the left wing of the Democratic Party will probably renounce its loyalty to Biden. They are already of the view that it would be better for the president to spend these many billions to fund climate protection, to forgive student loans for young people, or at least to make COVID-19 tests free again. In other words, to do things that could actually help the Democrats politically.

It’s no coincidence that these days, left-leaning Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders talk mainly about sociopolitical issues and higher taxes for the rich, not about the situation in Kyiv. The average American is struggling with record inflation and sinking income. The fact that Biden is leading the free world’s fight against Putin has neither notably improved his poll numbers nor the Democrats’ chances of victory in the midterms.