24 February—Four years ago today, Vladimir Putrid gleefully announced what he called a “special military operation” in which Russian airstrikes and missiles bombarded Ukrainian targets as Russian ground forces invaded the country from the north, east, and south—including Crimea, a part of Ukraine that Putrid’s troops had rather cleverly and easily occupied in 2014.

Joe Biden was president in 2022. So what did his inept administration with the full cooperation of an inept Congress do to put Putrid in his place? In simple terms, pretty much nothing. Sure, the U.S. and NATO—of which Ukraine wasn’t and still isn’t (because it would upset Putrid) a signatory—imposed economic sanctions against Putrid and his pals and provided some nonlethal matériel and lots of blather to make Ukraine think we cared.

But because of the so-called “direct conflict risk”—fear of escalation—that’s about all the U.S. did to help Ukraine. And although the U.S. didn’t formally warn NATO countries not to give Ukraine what it really needed to fight an all-out war against the evil Russian aggressor, it was understood. Besides lots of useless verbal support, some additional matériel and permissions were eventually granted, but too little and too late.

Eight years earlier, when Putrid took advantage of Ukraine’s internal mayhem to annex Crimea, Barack Obama’s ineffective administration with the full cooperation of an ineffective Congress had done pretty much the same thing—nothing that really helped Ukraine. Had Obama and his entourage done the right thing in 2014, Putrid wouldn’t—perhaps couldn’t—have invaded Ukraine in 2022 to mark the biggest war in Europe since World War II.

That takes us to Donald Trump. He pretty much ignored Ukraine during his first reign of terror. Who didn’t? Until President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and two Ukrainian-American army officers refused to play dirty pool with him, that is. Then it was never forget, never forgive, get mad, get even.

Precepts that guide Donald Trump’s life: “Never forget, never forgive. Get mad, get even. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”