Ambassadors from the United States serve “at the pleasure of the President” and can be removed at any time. They can also resign as Ambassador Brink did on April 11, 2025. Her letter of resignation was published in the Detroit Free Press as follows:

” I just came home to Michigan from three years in the toughest job of my life ― serving as the American Ambassador to Ukraine ― supporting our democratic ally against brutal, unprovoked aggression by Russia.

I have proudly served five presidents ― Republicans and Democrats ― to make sure the United States is the strongest, greatest country that the world has ever known.

I respect the president’s right and responsibility to determine U.S. foreign policy ― with proper checks and balances by U.S. Congress. It is the role of America’s Foreign Service to execute that policy. Unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia.

As such, I could no longer in good faith carry out the administration’s policy and felt it was my duty to step down. After nearly three decades serving our country, I resigned as our ambassador to Ukraine.

I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all ― it is appeasement. And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering.”

— Why Trump doesn’t care about Ukraine

Trump made many promises as he campaigned. One was to end the Ukraine war on day one of his presidency. Nobody believed it. But, it suited right-wing followers, who see the US as too involved in the problems of others.

One sentence in the resignation letter says it all:

“the [Ukraine] policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia.”

What kind of pressure? Putin is looking for concessions from the US and Ukraine, which will ultimately lead to the complete domination of Ukraine by Russia. The Trump administration is helping Russia in their misinformation against Ukraine. The biggest lie, was told just last week, and that Ukraine started the war. Seriously?

“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” he said at the White House on Monday. (I nominate this as the Politifact Lie of the Year, first told in Feb 15, 2025).

This comment followed Russia’s deadly attack on residential areas of the city of Sumy, killing 35 residents. The strategic importance of Sumy is obvious, as it lies just east of Kyiv, and would be an obvious point of ground attack on the capital.

BBC link: Trump blames Zelensky for starting war after massive Russian attack

February 24, 2022 is a day every Ukrainian will remember, as a column of Russian tanks drove south into Ukraine from Belarus, to “liberate” or denazify Ukraine, by capturing Kyiv. They accused Zelensky as being a nazi, even though he is Jewish. So the claim that Ukraine started the war is laughable.

— Mischaracterizing Zelensky as a corrupt leader

The money is the money. What bothered me — I hated to see the way it was, you know, excuse me, pissed away,” Trump said. “I hated to see that checks were sent for $60 billion every time Zelensky [traveled to Washington]. Where is all this money going?” he fumed.

Of course this is not true. Congress approves military assistance. The Defense Department then authorizes and follows up on the assistance.

This follows a whole series of lies Trump has spread since he campaigned for the presidency. And he will always be blaming Biden.

Ambassador Brink served as the US eyes and ears on the ground in Ukraine, and visited the residential areas, including schools and hospitals, that Putin had bombed. It must have been tough hearing Trump praise Putin and blame the victim, which is not just Zelensky, but the 37 million Ukrainian citizens.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Reality check from Wikipedia:

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the conflict between the two countries which began in 2014.[15][16][17] The fighting has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties. As of 2025, Russian troops occupy about 20% of Ukraine. From a population of 41 million, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.

Fact Checking Sites:

February 19, 2025 CNN, Trump falsely calls Zelensky ‘a dictator’ after Ukraine’s leader accuses him of living in ‘disinformation space’

March 2, 2025, PBS, Fact-checking Trump and Vance’s attacks on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

April 25, 2025. Thursday Briefing: Trump Lashes Out at Zelensky

This last link may not be accessible to everyone. The key statement is by Trump, “He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” Trump wrote on social media.

It is telling Zelensky that he’s got no options. The fallacy, of course, is Putin doesn’t want 30% of Ukraine. He wants the entire country under his control.

Russia would love to see Donald Trump win the election. He would appease Russia by giving them part of Ukraine, that they currently occupy. From there, Russian troops would pour into Kyiv and Trump would do nothing.

For anyone who is undecided who to vote for- the choice should be clear after Trump’s statement to appease Putin.

Per AP news story:

Former President Donald Trump described Ukraine in bleak and mournful terms Wednesday, referring to its people as “dead” and the country itself as “demolished,” and further raising questions about how much the former president would be willing if elected again to concede in a negotiation over the country’s future.

The Ukrainian people are not dead and the country is not demolished. Russia has done its best to conquer the country, and Ukrainians have fought and given their lives so they can live in a free country. Ukraine is an independent country with internationally recognized borders. Donald Trump does not appreciate the need to contain Russian aggression. He wants to appease Putin.

AP News Story: Trump says Ukraine is ‘demolished’ and dismisses its defense against Russia’s invasion

If there is any lesson to be learned from World War II, it is that appeasement does not work. Russia controls Belarus and Chechnya. The leaders of these countries report to the Kremlin.

Since the invasion on February 24, 2022, Russia thought it could send its tanks from Belarus, to Kyiv, but the Ukrainians proved them wrong. From the outset, the US pledged military support in terms of weapons but not soldiers. Biden had it right when he said that once there were Americans and Russians on the same battlefield, you have the beginnings of a world war.

Trump has lied repeatedly about VP Harris meeting with Putin before the war started. It never happened.

Link: Trump falsely claims Harris met with Putin before Ukraine invasion

CNN Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Harris has never met with Putin. In reality, she met with US allies, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Munich Security Conference in the days before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Putin was not at the conference.

The US position prior to the invasion was to maintain full alignment with partners and send a clear message to Russia that the US prefers diplomacy but is ready in case of Russian aggression, according to CNN. This is why Harris was in Munich.

And just as I completed this post, General McChrystal endorsed Kamala Harris. He wrote:

Character will dictate whether we stand by our NATO allies and against Vladimir Putin’s continued aggression. Character will dictate whether we have a commander in chief who honors and respects the men and women who serve in uniform.

And later he writes, Harris has the right character to be commander in chief.

Ms. Harris has the strength, the temperament and, importantly, the values to serve as commander in chief. When she sits down with world leaders like President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, representing the United States on the global stage, I have no doubt that she is working in our national interest, not her own.

General McChrystal service to our country spans decades in many conflicts. His bio is provided below.

General McChrystal

Trump has always threatened to pull out of NATO. Per The Atlanta, “But during Trump’s time in office, the withdrawal never happened. That was because there was someone there to talk him out of it. Bolton says he did it; Jim Mattis, John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo and even Mike Pence are thought to have done so too. (The Atlanta, issue January/February 2024)

James Mattis, the Secretary of Defense under Trump, said it best, “He is more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine.”

National Security Advisor H.H. McMasters under Trump stated, “President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.”

Harris will work with our allies and see that Putin never takes Ukraine. The Ukrainians are paying the ultimate price, defending the country with their lives. Trump will leave Ukraine defenseless to satisfy Putin.

On November 5, tell Trump that Ukraine lives. It doesn’t matter how much damage Russia inflicts on Ukraine. They will not surrender to tyranny. And we should not either.

Stay tuned,

Dave