A message to Donald Trump from his 'homeland': you are a traitor

When Donald Trump comes to Scotland, he says things like “it’s great to be home”. In contrast, the people of Scotland largely ignore or shun him. His dubious charisma, so effective in the USA, disappears almost completely in the birthplace of his mother, Mary MacLeod.

The reasons for this are many. However, it is his attitude towards democracy that presents a clear and present danger to the country he calls home. In the presidential election debate with Vice-President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night, Trump was asked twice whether he wanted democratic Ukraine to win the war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He refused to answer this question, simply saying the war should stop.

Putin and Xi’s New World Order

He has previously said he will end the fighting within a day if elected. The only way he might be able to do this is to cut off US military support to the Ukrainians as they will not stop defending themselves unless they lack the means to do so. In the debate, Harris said: “The reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it [Ukraine] up.”

A better question would have been whether he wanted Putin to win because it seems obvious that he does. Putin and other dictators like China’s Xi Jinping are engaged in a campaign to turn the world, long dominated by democracies and the rule of law, into one where might is right. If Trump is successful in forcing Ukraine to give in to Russia – hopefully European countries would step into the breach if he tries this – he will have advanced their cause.

A piper plays as Donald Trump opens his Trump Turnberry golf resort in 2016 (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images

Greatest ever threat to US republic

But then Trump is a man who ‘joked’ about becoming a dictator; talked more seriously about standing for a banned third term as president; and did nothing for hours while his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol after he told them they had to "fight like hell". He also told Christians that if they vote for him this November "in four years, you don't have to vote again”.

Even if Trump does not become a dictator, his failure to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians as they fight to defend their rights as free people and their country after it was invaded shows he is a traitor to the greatest and most noble cause the world has ever known: democracy.

No wonder right-wing Republicans like Dick Cheney are backing Harris. “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” the former Vice-President said. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”

However, Trump is not just a threat to the US but democracies all over the world. If Putin wins in Ukraine, he will not stop and the ensuing conflict may engulf us all, Scotland included.