U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants some of Ukraine’s resources in return for continued aid — and the demand is, as his German counterpart Olaf Scholz quickly said, "selfish.”
He might have added "unseemly.” If the U.S. is to monetize its support for Kyiv’s defense, after all, then why shouldn’t the dozens of other countries that have been helping out? And if that happened, nothing would be left but a nation’s bones.
Europe, however, should stop complaining, let Trump have his deal and avoid a divisive scramble for the assets Ukraine will need for its postwar reconstruction. That’s especially true of Scholz’s Germany. But let’s start with what Trump got wrong before getting to why his demand is a price worth paying.
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