You start out (IMO) correctly with outrage at what Trump is doing but miss the mark with the reason. Trump is doing exactly what the US has been doing all the time all over the world for at least 200 years. Trump is just doing it more blatantly than our most recent presidents have. Trump says the quiet part out loud.

Who does the US think it is to tell:

- Moldova how to handle Transnistria

- Georgia how to handle NGOs

- Ukraine their election results are invalid

- Thailand what laws are acceptable

- China what it can do in Taiwan (officially the US says Taiwan is part of China)

- Iran whether it can enrich uranium

- Serbia whether Kosovo is an independent country

- Ukraine that the Donbas is NOT two independent countries

- Syria that we "own" 1/3 of their country

etc. etc. I could go on for hours.

Trump is a boor (among many other things). He says things like, "We have the oil. We're staying for the oil. We have soldiers protecting the oil" rather than something banal like, "We're protecting women and democratic freedoms."