Moralistic Garbage: JD Vance hits back at historian in fierce defense of Trump’s Ukraine stance

“This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say,” Vance wrote.

US Vice President JD Vance launched a staunch defence of President Donald Trump’s criticism of Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia, dismissing British historian Niall Ferguson’s remarks as “moralistic garbage” and “historical illiteracy.”

In a lengthy 403-word post on X, Vance aimed at Ferguson, who had earlier condemned Trump for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and for incorrectly blaming him for the ongoing war. Ferguson contrasted Trump’s rhetoric with that of former US President George H.W. Bush, who had taken a firm stance against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, stating: “This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.”

“Future history students will be asked why this stopped being the reaction of a Republican president to the invasion of a sovereign state by a dictator,” Ferguson wrote.

Vance’s response was detailed and methodical, in contrast to Trump’s more direct approach. He argued that Trump’s stance was rooted in realism rather than outdated historical comparisons.

“This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say,” Vance wrote. He went on to assert that the war “wouldn't have started if President Trump was in office” and claimed that neither Europe, the Biden administration, nor Ukraine had a viable path to victory.

This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say.For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn't have started if President Trump was in office; https://t.co/xH33s6X5yf
JD Vance (@JDVance) February 20, 2025

Vance dismissed Ferguson’s reference to the Gulf War as irrelevant, writing, “That’s another currency of these people: reliance on irrelevant history.” He instead listed what he called “facts” about the conflict:

“Western European allies' security has benefitted greatly from the generosity of the United States” while pursuing policies on migration and censorship that “offend the sensibilities of most Americans.”

Russia holds a “massive numerical advantage in manpower and weapons,” a gap that will persist despite further Western aid.

The United States retains “substantial leverage over both parties to the conflict.”

Ending the war “requires talking to the people involved in starting it and maintaining it.”

The conflict is straining American military stockpiles, sanctions, and other tools of statecraft.

“We must pursue peace, and we must pursue it now,” Vance declared, adding that Trump was right to prioritise US interests over ideological concerns. “It is lazy, ahistorical nonsense to attack as ‘appeasement’ every acknowledgement that America's interest must account for the realities of the conflict.”

The vice president’s post was notably more measured than Trump’s own attack on Zelensky earlier in the week.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died.”

Despite Trump’s insistence on brokering peace, he has so far excluded Zelensky from America’s negotiations with Russia—an omission that has raised concerns among Ukraine and its European allies.