Conservative correspondent Byron York
tweeted: "This is reckless. Bush, Obama visited war zones where US had huge military presence to protect president, deter attack. Some allowed reporting only after president left. Here, reason to be very nervous until Biden leaves Ukraine via 'hourslong train ride.'"
It's more than that, though. Biden didn't just drop himself into Ukraine as means of showing the United States' deep ongoing commitment to defending the country. The Biden administration
told Putin's government he was going, and all but dared them to do something about it.
Multipleoutlets have reported that the United States "notified" Putin's government of Biden's trip shortly before his departure for "deconfliction purposes"—that is, to give Russian military forces warning of Biden's arrival and to put the onus on Russia to avoid attacks on Kyiv during that time period.
That's not "reckless,"
that's an assertion of complete military control over the situation. The Biden administration made sure the Russian military knew full well where Biden would be so that if Russian airstrikes or other military actions
did occur anywhere near the U.S. delegation, the United States would presume it to be an intentional assassination attempt.
And that, in turn, would likely result in a full-on United States assault.
That is not something the last Republican president, a coward whose photographed attempts to suck up to Putin were mocked internationally, would ever have dreamed of.