Op-Eds

A time for choosing

In 2024, for perhaps the first time, framing the upcoming presidential election as the most important of our lifetimes will not be an exaggeration.

For decades, we Armenian-Americans have been rightly disenchanted by the serial failures of U.S. foreign policy toward Armenia. With the U.S. now seemingly paying more serious attention to Armenia than ever before, it may appear things have changed. But that is only an illusion. The menace to Armenia is the status quo. A vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for the status quo and the same policies that will inexorably drive Armenia into catastrophic deals with Azerbaijan and Turkey, purchased at the cost of sacrificing our land, culture and historical claims for justice. A vote for Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a vote for a disruption of the status quo, a disruption that may give us a fighting chance — and perhaps the only chance — for our advocacy to receive a serious hearing with the hope of influencing a new way forward.

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Armen Morian

Armen Morian is a lawyer practicing in New York. He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Illuminator’s Armenian Cathedral in New York City and serves on the altar there. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Chapter of the Armenian Bar Association.

33 Comments

  1. The author is obviously a MAGA Trumper who supports a 78-year-old demented idiotic man who knows nothing about history, especially about the Armenian Genocide. He even did not know who Bismark was. He adores Hitler, Putin and other dictators. The author implies that the “deep state” runs our foreign policy. In reality, what would Trump do for Armenia? He did not recognize the Armenian Genocide and could care less about Armenian issues. His good friend Erdogan will have a Trump Tower in Istanbul and maybe in Ankara. The man is only concerned about himself and cares “diddly squat” about Armenia and Armenian issues. Harris in California supported Armenian causes. Politics is based on how involved the electorate is involved with various concerns. That’s where the Armenian diaspora comes into play to exert pressure on politicians to support Armenian issues and Armenia. Trump is not the choice for Armenian Americans to choose as President. In this election, do not only consider yourself as an Armenian, but think of yourself as an American. The self-centered Trump will do nothing for Armenia!

      1. You might want to stop watching Fox News and open your mind to what is really happening and what is most important for all humanity and our planet.

  2. It is quite an accomplishment, but this article has virtually no substance to it whatsoever. Change for its own sake is not a substantive argument.

    Donald Trump all but signed Armenia‘s death warrant by handing over the region to Erdogan and his cronies in Azerbaijan. His haphazard pull out from Syria signaled to Armenias belligerent neighbors that they are free to have their way in the region, absent of US influence or intervention… including the taking Artsakh by the Azerbaijanis.

    If that’s the change you so desperately wanted, congratulations. You got what you deserved.

  3. Great article! Completely agree.
    Vote Trump 2024!
    Haters will just continue to hate and not be open minded.

  4. do not know how ANY self-respecting American of ARmenian descent can vote for either Trump or Harris. trump will be good for America BAD for ARmenians Assyrians Yezidis in the East because trump will resume donating billions of dollars in arms to turks/azeris. harris if elected will keep flooding the USA with illegals until she destroys the greatest Nation on earth: America. don’t know what the answer is but it isn’t Harris or trump.

  5. Trump is pulling back from Ukraine, pulling back from Taiwan, pulling back from NATO, pulling back from the US’s Indo-Pacific alignment etc. It is pure fantasy to argue that Trump is going to effectively insert himself into the Caucasus.

  6. It is mind boggling that any Armenian-American can vote for the trainwreck that is Kamala. Glendale will end up looking like a slum in a decade and say goodbye to taking granted a decent education for your children even in Armenian private schools! No Armenian values will be left unmolested by the radical left. Trump is the only choice if we wish to have a prosperous Diaspora and a secure homeland that doesn’t shrink daily. Not voting for Trump is not just unChristian but it is anti-Armenian!

  7. Trump:
    • Appointed Turkish agent Michael Flynn to US National security advisor and pardoned him after he was convicted for spying for Turkey. Promised to reappoint Flynn.
    • Spoke in defense of NYC mayor Eric Adams who was caught being an Azeri agent.
    • Trump received an endorsement from Azerbaijan. President of Azerbaijan shared in an interview that he would prefer Trump to win the election because Biden’s sanctions on Azerbaijan were anti-Azeri and Trump advanced Azeri interests. This is the first time Azerbaijan has endorsed a U.S. presidential candidate.
    • His DOJ did not allocate enough resources to investigate the attacks on Armenian churches and schools on US soil.
    • Provided over 100 million in military arms to Azerbaijan, the highest in American history, compared to Biden’s 2 million. You know where that 100 million was used.
    • Trump cut aid to Armenia in half, relative to Obama admin averages.
    • Pardoned the Turkish thugs who attacked American security personnel and anti-Erdogan protesters which included Armenians
    • Turkey ordered Trump to permit it to invade northern Syria. Trump obliged and withdrew US soldiers, which led to a massacre of Christians and Yezidis by Turkish and ISIS soldiers.
    • Blocked bipartisan congressional efforts to recognize the Armenian genocide and offered Erdogan, as reported by the Massispost, to deny the Armenian genocide and call it a civil war.
    • Trump owns massive properties in Baku and Istanbul, who threaten to take his wealth away should he not do their biddings.
    • Trump even admitted he has a conflict of interests with Turkey/Azerbaijan.
    • Trump fired dozens of people who were closer to him than RFK or Vivek are.

    These are tangible facts that refer facts and actions Trump took to advance Turkish and Azeri interests. You could have and should have included them in your analysis.

    At least Trump said Armenians are great at business. Let us forgive him and vote for Baku Trump for a single empty compliment.

    Biden:

    Didn’t do a lot of good for Armenians but he cut 97.5% of military aid to Turkey and Azerbaijan. And he raised aid to Armenia by hundreds of millions of dollars. And he recognized the Armenian genocide. That’s about it. But that’s a lot better than the Թուրքասեր շատախոս.

    1. I malati Fans di trump smentiscono a se stessi i “Fatti”cosi ben elencati nel tuo commento.Ma proprio perchè malati di mente e fanatici non c’e speranza che possano capire e agire di conseguenza

  8. It is very clear. Kremlin agents are within us… and thriving. The fact that this weekly publishes such an article further reinforces the truth of Kremlin infiltration in Armenian institutions. The successful KGB infiltration within the highest ranking members of ARF in the 1950’s leaves no doubt that today is no different. Writing this article, and publishing it here proves it.

  9. Dear Armen
    Thank you for writing such s clear and succinct article on this very issue. I wholeheartedly agree with your facts and arguments. Furthermore, Kamala is not worthy to be the president of anything, not even an illiterate book club in the smallest town.

  10. Utterly staggering, delusional “thinking”. Every piece of spoken and acted evidence says Trump could care less than less about Armenia and Armenians. How blind and deaf have you become?

  11. After reading this article and noting that the author serves on the altar at the Armenian Cathedral in NY, you have to wonder if they are putting cannabis in the incense.

  12. The Biden Administration was the first administration to recognize our genocide. The Trunp Administration had the opportunity to do so, and they did not. Shame on them and on all past administrations failures in doing so.

      1. And yet those “words” are far more than anything anyone else has done in recognizing the Genocide.

      2. Why were all of you demonstrating in the streets for decades on April 24 if recognition is just a word & does not mean anything?!?!?

  13. Having just returned from Armenia the locals there are afraid of the consequences if Trump is elected POTUS. After all Trump is a person focused on the latest transaction and I cannot see how Trump will bite the hand (Erdogan and Aliyev) that feeds him. Trump’s team authorized aid to partially fund the arms buildup in Azerbaijan and gave NOTHING to Armenia.

    As an American I cannot get past the fact that Trump is a convicted felon, has no personal integrity, and does not support the Constitution of the United States.

  14. Voting for Trump is delusional madness, no matter how you frame it. Trump is a deranged megalomaniac, a convicted felon, a serial molester of woman, a would-be dictator. The article develops a theme well enough. But that theme is deeply misguided.

  15. Shame on the Weekly. Trump cares nothing about Armenians and is a known friend of the Azeris. Remember the tower he wanted to build in Baku? And just this week Trump hugged Eric Adams known Turk-Azeri lover – NYC mayor- being investigated for his campaigns ties to them. A Trump presidency would give the green light to the Azeris.

  16. Kremlin directed exceptional article! As usual, ARF operatives are following their instructions from the Kremlin as they have been doing so since the late 1950s. In his 4 year term, did this Trump do or say a single thing beneficial to Armenia or Armenians? NO!
    This BS article is very typical to his own character which is lacking in all respects!

  17. Hey Armenians, stop arguing about this election.
    BOTH candidates are unqualified morons, none of them gives a rat’s ass about Armenia or Armenians, and none of them have anything of value or integrity to offer to Americans. So just shut up, this forum is not for you to open your ugly mouths to proselytise your favorite moron-candidate. Go preach to your wives and husbands and children – not to Armenian Weekly readers. No matter what your opinion is, we are not interested in your BS. Just LAY OFF!

  18. What a whole lot of hogwash. Were it not so dangerous, it would be laughable to read a piece in an Armenian newspaper by a lawyer—God help his clients—advocating for an unabashedly fascist like Donald Trump, a scumbag who is chums with other fascists like him, including Aliyev, Erdogan and Netanyahu, and who couldn’t care less about the war unleashed by those three terrorists and war criminals on Armenia and Artsakh. For the sake of America, Armenia and the world, let us hope that Trump will be defeated and will end up in the dustbin of history, where garbage like him and his murderous cronies deserve to be.

  19. 100% correct. Thank you for this article! Harris would have done absolutely nothing for the Armenian NOR American people.

  20. I wanted to re-read this article on April 24, 2025. If everything the author claimed was true, then Trump would continue what Biden did: acknowledge the genocide.

    And yet, Trump denied the genocide on April 24, 2025 — just as he did his entire first term.

    This is not an argument for/against VP Harris. It is an assessment that Trump couldn’t even live up to his own basic camapign promises. Promises that his Armenian supporters enthusiastically shouted about during the campaign.

    My personal perspective is that no attention should be paid to US Presidential campaigns. They have all in one form or another failed at the majority of their campaign “promises,” be it Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden. And now Trump again. I don’t believe there should be endorsements even from Armenian organizations. My comment is cynical. Yes. But, given their track records, there is nothing more suspicious to me than a politico crowing about the magnificence of a US Presidential candidate. No US Presidential Administration has been an effective or reliable partner to Armenia. The U.S. Congress is somewhat better, insofar as reliable Representatives and Senators exist and can tuck in support to Armenia within bills. But, even that has its limits and should be treated with skepticism. Give me 115 years of reliable and positive material, diplomatic, and military support and I will happily trust the US as it relates to Armenia. Until then…

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