Neville Chamberlain and Donald Trump ( AP)
By : Vlad Green, Op-Ed
In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich waving a piece of paper after meeting Adolf Hitler. He proclaimed “peace for our time,” but what he had really secured was Europe’s path to war. Appeasement disguised as diplomacy weakened the allies and emboldened a dictator.
Today, history threatens to repeat itself in Washington. President Donald Trump, having already adopted Vladimir Putin’s position on Ukraine, is now using a tactic straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook: divide and rule.
On Monday, Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alone in the Oval Office at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 GMT). Then, at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), he will meet all the European leaders together in the White House’s East Room.
At first glance, this might seem like a scheduling detail. In reality, it is a carefully staged performance with dangerous consequences.
Isolating Zelensky
By seeing Zelensky alone first, Trump strips him of the strength that comes from standing shoulder to shoulder with Europe. Behind closed doors, without allies at his side, Zelensky faces pressure to concede to terms that mirror Putin’s demands. This is not diplomacy—it is coercion masquerading as statecraft.
Marginalizing Europe
Later, when Trump meets the Europeans without Zelensky present, he divides what should be a united alliance. Instead of presenting a common front, the West appears fractured into compartments. It is exactly what Putin wants: a weakened Ukraine and a sidelined Europe.
A Choreography of Appeasement
This is not an accident of scheduling—it is deliberate political choreography. Trump is positioning himself not as a leader of a unified alliance but as a broker between divided parties, giving Putin the advantage. The echoes of Munich are unmistakable.
The Deafening Silence of the Media
What makes this moment even more alarming is the silence of much of the U.S. media. Instead of exposing the gravity of Trump’s pro-Putin maneuver, news outlets are treating this as routine diplomatic theater. It is anything but routine. The press, which should be sounding the alarm about the dangers of appeasement and division, is sleepwalking through one of the most consequential tests of American leadership in decades.
The Cost of Division
If Ukraine is forced into concessions, Europe’s security will be shattered. If European leaders are bypassed, transatlantic trust will fray. And if Putin emerges with a diplomatic win, China will be watching closely—ready to apply the same lessons to Taiwan.
A Call for Unity
European leaders must not fall into Trump’s divide-and-rule trap. They should insist on joint meetings, coordinated statements, and unshakable unity with Ukraine. Zelensky, too, must ensure transparency—sharing with his allies what is said in private.
Trump may believe he is showing strength. In reality, he is performing weakness, signaling to Putin that America is willing to fracture its alliances for the sake of a photo opportunity. Appeasement never works. The silence of the media only makes this betrayal of Ukraine—and of the democratic world—even more dangerous.