The first duty of any government is to its own people, not to foreign governments, foreign wars, or foreign demands.
President Trump understands this, which is why he has waived sanctions on Russia to protect American energy prices, why he has rebuked Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries that inflate global fuel costs, and why he has praised an armed father who stopped a school shooter in Oregon. These are not isolated incidents.
They are evidence of a governing philosophy that puts American sovereignty, American wallets, and American lives ahead of international entanglements.
The executive order waiving congressional sanctions on Russia is a necessary defense of the American economy. Those sanctions, passed by Congress in September, threatened 100 percent tariffs on Russian oil and gas purchasers and restrictions on financial institutions.
The administration correctly identified them as a threat to national security and the American national interest at a time when soaring fuel costs are crushing household budgets. Suspending these provisions sends a clear signal: Washington will not let foreign policy adventurism dictate what American families pay at the pump.
The friction with Kyiv only reinforces the point. President Trump has called Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries a "disgrace" because those attacks drive up global oil costs and undermine a deal to import 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel.
He has described Volodymyr Zelensky as "more difficult to deal with than Putin," and his administration has warned that intelligence-sharing and support are at risk if Kyiv ignores American requests to halt the refinery strikes.
Meanwhile, Zelensky demands billions in additional European funding to cover a projected €155 billion war bill and insists on a sovereign right to strike targets that fuel Moscow's war machine. None of that changes the fact that the President's responsibility is to the American public, not to the demands of foreign leaders.
The same principle applies to domestic safety. When Griffin J. John II, a 16-year-old former student, breached Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, and opened fire with a shotgun and 44 additional rounds, he killed three children and a teacher.
The carnage ended only because Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter with a legally concealed pistol, saw the attacker firing at a vehicle and entering the building, went inside, and neutralized the shooter.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz confirmed that Giamanco's actions, along with those of a teacher who wrestled with the gunman, prevented further bloodshed. President Trump called Giamanco a "great hero," and he was right.
This is what law and order actually looks like. Government cannot station an officer in every hallway, and it should not disarm the law-abiding citizens who are often the first responders in a crisis. The right to keep and bear arms is not a fringe issue; it is the last line of defense for innocent life when evil shows up unannounced. Every restriction on concealed carry, every effort to make law-abiding citizens defenseless, puts children at risk and cedes control to criminals.
The stakes are liberty, sovereignty, and accountable government. A government that prioritizes foreign borders over American energy prices is not serving its citizens. A government that treats armed self-defense as a problem rather than a solution is not protecting liberty.
And a government that takes orders from Kyiv, Brussels, or any other foreign capital is not sovereign. The Trump administration's record on sanctions, diesel imports, and armed citizens shows a different path: one where Washington answers to the people who live here, not to diplomats in foreign capitals.
America does not need more foreign entanglements or more gun control. It needs leaders who will waive counterproductive sanctions, secure affordable energy, defend the right of citizens to protect their children, and refuse to be bullied by foreign presidents. The national interest is not an abstraction. It is the price of diesel, the safety of a classroom, and the freedom to govern ourselves. That is the standard this administration is meeting, and it is the standard every American should demand.
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