US President Donald Trump signs documents in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, US, on January 20, 2025. [Carlos Barria/Reuters]
January 2025 will be remembered as an unusually significant month in the history of the US Presidency. It began with the passing of Jimmy Carter, who will be mostly remembered for his impactful post-presidency. Then the long and storied political career of Joe Biden ended with what seemed collective apathy in the US and the world. And finally, Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office has put him on course to be the dominant figure in US politics for 12 consecutive years, a feat surpassed only by Franklin Roosevelt.
As Americans spent the month reflecting on presidential legacies, it is a good time for Hellenism to engage in a deeper discussion than the “What does this presidency mean for Greece?” discussion that occurs every four years. All Hellenes should certainly be asking ourselves if we are unjustifiably searching for a political messiah in the Oval Office that is unlikely to ever come.
The church bells ringing in Cyprus after Carter’s 1976 victory are the ultimate symbol of this futile search. In the eyes of Hellenes at least, Carter is fortunate that he was a contemporary of Henry Kissinger. If not for the justifiable vilification of Kissinger in Greek and Cypriot history, Carter’s disappointing record may even be remembered as treacherous. Neither the church bells nor the significant Greek-American gatherings in churches around the United States with Carter ended the occupation of Cyprus, but he did end the arms embargo on Turkey – which made the solving the Cyprus issue more difficult. Furthermore, his foreign policy did little to stem the rise of anti-Americanism (due to the invasion of Cyprus and the support of the junta) that occurred during his term. And while his celebrated post-presidency included involvement in many foreign policy issues, there was no significant intervention on any Hellenic issues. As Jimmy Carter was laid to rest, it seems almost fitting that the Carter Center is undertaking a project related to Cyprus led by those who still argue in favor of the Annan Plan.
The “Bidenopoulos” experience of the last four years raises serious questions as to how worldwide Hellenism sets expectations. Major successes were certainly achieved in the past four years – the new Mutual Defense and Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) that helped make Alexandroupoli so important; the historic visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which included the address to a Joint Session of Congress; the F-35 deal; major investments by the United States’ International Development Finance Corporation in Greece; and a significant upgrade in US-Cyprus bilateral relations. Were these achievements enough to outweigh the disappointment over the absence of any special US push on the Cyprus problem or the failure to implement parts of the East Med Act or to honor the now infamous Blinken letter that was meant to assuage Congressional concerns over a potential F-16 sale to Turkey?
And now we arrive at Trump 2.0. President Trump’s first term featured some great advancements in US-Greece and US-Cyprus relations – two prime ministerial visits to the Oval Office, an amended MDCA, the launch of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue, the launch of the “3+1” diplomatic initiative, and the signing of a statement of intent with the Republic of Cyprus that eventually led to last year’s Strategic Dialogue.
This all should be celebrated but a deeper reflection would require analysis of how much of the above is attributable to centers of power – Mike Pompeo’s leadership at the State Department, Wess Mitchell’s stewardship over the Bureau of European Affairs, Bob Menendez’s leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ted Deutch’s chairmanship of the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, Geoffrey Pyatt’s influence in the greater Eastern Mediterranean while he served as US ambassador to Greece – that will no longer be present in this second Trump term.
The hearings for the eventual assistant secretary of state for Europe and for the ambassadors to Turkey and Greece will be far more revealing
Any expectations are purely speculative – neither campaign issued a position paper in 2024; Hellenic issues were not addressed in Secretary Marco Rubio’s hearing; the president himself has not addressed the region other than a nod to his relationship with Erdogan. The hearings for the eventual assistant secretary of state for Europe and for the ambassadors to Turkey and Greece will be far more revealing, and far more high-stakes given what we have NOT heard or learned so far.
Secretary Rubio laid out a very telling standard this week: “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: 1. Does it make America safer? 2. Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?”
This clear message is a gift. Instead of forming expectations based on statements of principle or values that are inevitably going to be compromised when circumstances demand it, this equation will demonstrate what a tremendous return on investment America’s alliance with Greece and partnership with Cyprus has been over the last decade. It will also lead to the conclusion that the US is throwing in good money after bad when it comes to Turkey. Incidentally, the answers to all three questions are a resounding “yes” when it comes to the landmark pieces of legislation – the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act and the US-Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act – that then Senator Rubio put his weight behind.
Teaching the Bible may be returning to American schools, but Hellenes should stop the search for political messiahs in the United States. The Rubio equation makes it clear that we should be thinking of mathematics rather than faith.
* Endy Zemenides is executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council.