Trump's Betrayal of Ukraine

Since President Trump returned to the White House last year, he has vacillated between appeasing President Vladimir Putin of Russia and reluctantly helping Ukraine defend itself against Mr. Putin's invasion. Over the past two weeks, Mr. Trump has taken a sharp turn toward appeasement. Desperate to reduce gas prices before the midterms, he is now helping Mr. Putin wage war.

On Oct. 9, Mr. Trump announced he would lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports to the United States, a step that will help Russia's economy and war production. On Friday, he went further, signing an executive order that waived other sanctions. He has also taken steps that do not have a clear economic rationale and instead seem designed simply to please Mr. Putin. Among them are new service restrictions for Starshield, the Elon Musk-run satellite network that Ukrainian forces use to defend against Russian airstrikes. Although the White House denies involvement, Mr. Musk said that only the U.S. military, and ultimately the president, could order service restrictions.