Friday's disgraceful spectacle in the Oval Office was shocking. It was shocking because we can still remember when U.S. presidents didn't routinely disgrace their trust. It was shocking because we are not yet used to seeing the Oval Office as a setting in which an American president bullies a democratic leader on behalf of a brutal dictator. But the sickening spectacle shouldn't have been surprising. In the last few weeks, with the phone call with Vladimir Putin, the Pete Hegseth and JD Vance speeches in Europe, and the Marco Rubio meeting in Riyadh, it had become altogether clear that in his second term, Trump's pro-Putin stance would be unencumbered and unapologetic. And so the Financial Times warned back on February 21 that "those who thought America was a friend or ally" would have to instead deal with a world in which "America is an unabashed predator."

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