Americans spent decades discussing rule of law. Why would anyone believe us now?

Step away for the moment from the domestic implications of this story and think about what it means in the rest of the world. It’s almost as though President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, had set out to undermine every U.S. and European program in the region, every diplomatic and educational initiative, every single ideal that the United States has ever stood for in that part of the world. In the five months since the election of Ukraine’s new president, Trump, Giuliani and possibly others have continually harassed Zelensky — withheld promised military aid, refused to attend his inauguration, nagged and bothered his aides — all in the name of corrupting and undermining Ukrainian rule of law.

Zelensky, to his credit, has apparently held out. But after this incident, will any U.S. diplomat, ever again, be able to ask with a straight face for any American ally, in the post-Soviet world or anyone else, to crack down on corruption? Will any offers of judicial training or mentoring in the United States be treated as anything but a joke? We have been arguing for the benefits of the rule of law for decades, and once upon a time, at least some people listened. Why should they do so anymore?

Whatever becomes of Trump now, his presidency has definitely left a mark on history. He will be remembered as the president who destroyed the United States’ reputation for good governance, who undermined U.S. policy in the post-Soviet world and beyond, whose narcissistic and conspiratorial obsessions dominated his relationships with foreign leaders, even foreign leaders at war. This is the kind of damage that can never be repaired.