On foreign conflicts, MAGA backs Trump's art of (any) deal
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House on Oct. 17. Photo: Win McNamee via Getty Images
From Ukraine to Gaza, MAGA has made it clear: clinching a deal to end foreign fighting matters far more than the fine print.
Why it matters: This non-ideological approach to foreign policy explains why President Trump has faced little political pressure from his base as he's sought to broker an end to the world's most intractable conflicts.
- Trump himself has given wide latitude to his envoys to negotiate the details of peace agreements, stressing that his top priority is to end the bloodshed.
- Sometimes, that means lashing out at allies to pressure them into terms — however unfavorable — that will stop the shooting.
Zoom in: MAGA's few hard demands are rooted in "America First": no U.S. ground troops, and no deal that risks pulling Americans deeper into someone else's war.
- But after a whirlwind weekend of conflicting messages around a peace deal in Ukraine, MAGA wasn't caught up in the minutiae beyond those demands.
What they're saying: "I think MAGA just wants an end of the war with no ground troops. I don't think that they genuinely care about the borders of Ukraine," conservative operative and podcaster Ryan Girdusky told Axios.
- "99% of Americans could not identify a single city in Ukraine except for the capital," he contended.
- "America First leaders want peace as fast as possible. Everyone knows the specifics won't change much no matter how long it keeps going, but murder for cash needs to end and now," added Breitbart News' Matt Boyle.
Zoom out: The remarks echo the sentiment around prior U.S. diplomacy.
- Even during the war in Gaza, MAGA offered Trump significant political flexibility on a deal to end the brutal fighting. The movement didn't get caught up in what a civilian government in Gaza looked like or how much of a military footprint Israel would retain.
- Where infighting did erupt was over U.S. funding for Israel and strikes on Iran — flashpoints that some in the movement feared would drag the U.S. deeper into another foreign conflict.
Catch up quick: A flurry of diplomacy over the past several days prompted allegations from pro-Ukrainian and European observers that Trump's peace proposal was a gift to Russia.
- An initial 28-point peace plan would have Kyiv surrender unconquered territory, shrink its military and agree to never join NATO in exchange for a cessation of fighting and security guarantees from Europe and the U.S.
- Trump later said the proposal was not his final offer. The White House added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had committed "to ensuring that Ukraine's sovereignty, security, and future prosperity remain central to the ongoing diplomatic process" during a meeting with Ukrainian officials on Sunday.
The bottom line: Vice President Vance on Monday brushed aside criticism of the emerging agreement, capturing the MAGA sentiment that peace matters far more than the particulars.
- [T]he political class is really angry that the Trump administration may finally bring a four year conflict in Eastern Europe to a close," Vance wrote on X.
