For the longest time, I’ve equated the Republican Party with an aggressive, pro-democracy foreign policy.

If one was to look at previous Republican presidents, what comes to mind are names like Reagan and Bush. What most Republican presidents had in common during their presidencies is the fact that each entered the world stage with the intention of not only securing our rights and freedoms from foreign threats but also help to secure it for people who are not American.

Look back to November 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell, look back to the Gulf War, the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. You’ll see that each of these Republican presidents took the initiative to step into the arena and challenge unjust and tyrannical foreign governments. In other words, these presidents knew that the nations of Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and North Korea were and are our enemies. Only the uneducated could see otherwise.

When Trump was elected, I had hoped for the same mentality. In early 2017, while speaking with a friend who was former Special Forces, I asked how he thought Trump would handle the genocidal communist state of North Korea. My friend chuckled and said, “Trump is going to put them in a box.” As Trump’s presidency continued, it became obvious that an opposite was the case — he was the one that was put into a box. In other words, because of his kowtowing to Kim Jong-un, Trump has reduced our military presence in the Korean peninsula, while shaking hands with this genocidal dictator who is actively working to hold the world hostage with nuclear weapons.

As I’ve told my Republican friends, “With a Republican president I should at least feel a semblance of security against foreign governments. With Trump misleading our military by cancelling exercises and reducing the number of troops overseas—while actively discrediting the CIA and FBI, the two organizations that work every day to keep Americans safe—I feel more fear than security.”

Presidents in the past have worked to support pro-democracy forces overseas, not so with Trump. For example, take the pro-democracy movement happening right now in Hong Kong. Trump has done nothing to openly support the movement. The only action he has taken with regard to addressing the protests is a statement that asserts he “hopes no one gets hurt.” Newsflash Mr. President, many people already have been hurt. Pro-democracy Hong Kong residents (i.e. people who are standing up for American values) are getting teargassed, pepper-sprayed, beaten, shot, and arrested. While the president is asking for political favors from the president of the communist party himself, the same president arguably responsible that set off the Hong Kong protests in the first place.

This morning, it became clear to me that Trump isn’t a true Republican. For years the United States have helped train, supply, and protect the Kurdish people from nations such as Iraq, Syria and Turkey, nations that want to see them exterminated. When I heard that Trump went through with his “on a whim idea” to pull American forces out of Kurdish territory, I felt extremely disheartened because immediately after Trump ordered our forces out of Northeast Syria, the Turks invaded. Personally, I am under no illusion that the Turks will not commit mass murder on our Kurdish allies, and I am under no illusion that Trump is not directly responsible for the deaths that will happen in the coming fight.

Trump has failed, and continues to fail, strategically and socially on the world stage. While some might see his obvious failures as successes, these people are just as brainwashed as those starving North Koreans who actually believe that their dictator is a god who can do no wrong. It is obvious that Trump has been honey-potted by Kim Jun Un. He has turned a blind eye and abandoned pro-democracy fighters around the world. He has vacated a decent foothold in the Middle East (a foothold that neighboring Russia will no doubt push to secure) while condemning Kurds to die at the hands of Turkish fighters.

As an Army Ranger veteran, if I could tell the Kurdish people something, it would be that I apologize for the actions of our president, and if I could, I would fight over there alongside all of you. I am truly sorry.