We have lost the linguistic battle. Lets try and not lose the linguistic war.
People still talk about Trump wanting a ceasefire in Ukraine because he wants “peace”. We hear arguments like he wants to end the senseless slaughter or that he wants the Nobel Peace Prize—almost certainly true as Obama has one and Trump is obsessed with things like that. I do think, however, that the saying Trump “wants” a ceasefire or “peace” is deceptive and needs to stop now. He wants a Putin victory—and sees a ceasefire or “peace” within that framework. If Putin wants to keep fighting, Trump seems more than happy to see the war continue. He is a war president, not a peace president, and this needs to be stated loudly and clearly.
The Peace Candidate
“We want to have peace on earth.” Donald Trump claimed the mantle of the “Peace” candidate during the 2024 election with phrases like this, and others, during the course of the campaign. Indeed, he wanted “Peace” so much that he regularly called the Democrats “war-mongers”, at one point saying of Kamala Harris that “She would get us into a World War III guaranteed because she is too grossly incompetent to do the job.”
