Dan Proft spoke with Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, about former President Donald Trump’s newly announced plan to send additional Patriot missile systems to Ukraine—with European Union countries picking up the tab—and impose sweeping tariffs on Russia unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days.
May applauded the move, calling it a necessary recognition of the threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Trump’s decision to provide Ukraine with missile defense support and to consider secondary sanctions on Russia’s oil buyers marked a clear strategic shift and a long-overdue hardline stance.
“These systems will knock death out of the sky before it reaches Ukrainian civilians,” May explained, emphasizing the significance of intercepting Russian missile attacks on hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods. “This is a terrorist war Putin is waging, and he has no intention of stopping voluntarily.”
Trump’s 50-day ultimatum to Russia would include tariffs of up to 100% on entities that continue to support Putin’s war machine. May noted that China, India, Iran, and North Korea have played substantial roles in backing Russia with military and financial support. In particular, North Korea has provided more artillery shells to Russia than the United States can produce in a year, while Iran has helped build drone and missile factories used against Ukraine.
“People need to realize we are already in a proxy war,” May said. “Ukraine is doing the dirty work against our second-greatest adversary, and they’re not asking for our troops—just our weapons.”
He also urged policymakers to consider the broader benefits of strengthening America’s defense industrial base. With European allies footing the bill, May said supplying systems like the Patriot will revitalize U.S. manufacturing and create high-skilled jobs—while maintaining American dominance in global military technology.
The conversation shifted briefly to Israel and the Gaza conflict, where May drew a sharp comparison between support for Ukraine and growing criticism of Israel. He rejected actor Mandy Patinkin’s emotional appeal blaming Israeli leadership for civilian casualties in Gaza, calling it a symptom of “woke mind virus” logic.
May pointed out that Israel routinely warns civilians to evacuate before strikes and seeks to eliminate Hamas without harming innocents—unlike Hamas, which uses civilians as human shields and orchestrated the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel that left hundreds of civilians dead or kidnapped.
“If Israel wanted revenge, Gaza wouldn’t exist,” May said. “What they want is to survive. And if you don’t let them dismantle Hamas, all you’re doing is guaranteeing more death—on both sides.”
He argued that the same principle should apply to U.S. foreign policy across the board: support partners who are willing to fight America’s enemies, especially when they’re doing so at great cost and with no expectation of American boots on the ground.
In both Ukraine and Israel, May said, the stakes are clear: freedom versus tyranny. Appeasement has failed repeatedly, and it’s time the West learns that lesson.