Russia is part of the issue, but indirectly: The neo-cons thought that a democratized, pro-American Muslim world could be turned against Russia; Trump doesn’t care much how the Russians govern themselves as long they help contain strategic threats to the United States. (Neither do I.) That’s what “America First” means; we look at what other countries do according to what advances our interests, NOT according to what we imagine is best for them. So far, Trump has done exactly what he promised to do during the campaign, and made a certain amount of progress.

That’s why the Democrats, the Establishment Republicans, and the Europeans hate him so much. There are lots of little issues that annoy the Europeans–the Paris climate accord, for example, and talk of trade barriers against European products (which in my view are a waste of time). But that’s not what evokes gut-hatred of the president of the United States among the European elites. They made a commitment to coexistence with Islam, and Trump pulled the plug on it. Among other things, the Democrats as well as the Europeans were determined to force Israel into a supposed peace deal that would create yet another terror state on Israel’s borders. Trump has ruled that out.

There are plenty of things that I wish Trump had done differently. But on the big issues, he is magnificently right, as J.M. Keynes wrote of Franklin Roosevelt in another context.