Donald Trump’s heated confrontation with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday has triggered a conspicuous lack of outrage from an increasingly hesitant Democratic Party. This uncharacteristic restraint speaks volumes about a fundamental recalibration taking place within American liberalism, as the appetite for Ukraine support wanes.

Recent polling tells the story plainly enough. A Quinnipiac survey from last week shows that the percentage of Americans who believe the US is doing “too much” to help Ukraine has skyrocketed from 7% to 41% (and to 62% among Republicans). Trust in Zelensky — a formerly-revered “secular saint” — has plummeted from 72% to under 48%. The Democrats, long champions of the Ukrainian cause, appear to have recognised a losing battle when they see one.

A handful of strident voices, including Bernie Sanders and Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, did speak out. “The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin,” Murphy declared on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, insisting that Trump’s team is “pretending as if Ukraine started this war” while overlooking that the Democrats said the same things during the failed Russiagate investigation. And when Hillary Clinton criticised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order to the US Cyber Command to stand down from all operations directed at Russia, he replied with a meme of her laughing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The exchange effectively underscored how these protestations now sound hollow and disconnected from public sentiment.

This strategic retreat isn’t limited to Ukraine policy. Amid record drops in approval for Congressional Democrats’ performance, the party’s leadership has grown similarly quiet on transgender protections in sports, which polling has repeatedly shown to be exceedingly unpopular. It has also begun walking back some messaging on DEI programmes and affirmative action in school admissions, issues which are also consistently opposed by majorities. The party appears to be picking its battles more judiciously, recognising that certain culture war flashpoints have become political quicksand.

So much was evident at a gathering of prominent Democratic moderates last month. The resulting document, a five-page blueprint obtained by Politico, reads like a direct repudiation of the party’s trajectory over the last decade. Among its recommendations are “embrace patriotism, community, and traditional American imagery”; “be pro-capitalism in a smart way”; “ban far-left candidate questionnaires”; and “push back against far-Left staffers and groups”. Perhaps most telling is “move away from the dominance of small-dollar donors whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate”. The message couldn’t be clearer: the progressive wing that dominated the party during Trump’s first term has lost its primacy.

While foreign policy was not mentioned in the blueprint, the last few days have shown that Democrats are struggling to find the right line on this too. The Third Way moderates’ prescription to “move away from the dominance of small-dollar donors” and “push back against far-left staffers” may help realign the party domestically, but offers precious little guidance on responding to Trump’s dramatic reorientation of American foreign policy. As Trump pressures Ukraine in the direction of uncomfortable concessions to Russia, Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer are nowhere to be found.

This vacuum of opposition speaks to a deeper crisis of confidence within the party: having spent years telling jokes about “pee tapes” and portraying Trump as Putin’s puppet, Democrats now find themselves unable to counter his moves on the world stage. The party’s inability to articulate a compelling alternative vision for America’s evolving role in the world may prove as damaging to its electoral prospects as its previous missteps on domestic issues.

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Oliver Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts at his Substack, Oliver Bateman Does the Work

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