Former President Trump is still important, with the proper amount of perspective

For the four years of Donald Trump's presidency, one could say that Palm Beach Post Business and Politics Editor Antonio Fins was doing God's work. Not only coordinating coverage of the busy former president's (and former first lady Melania Trump's) frequent visits and activities in Palm Beach County, but often taking on reporting and writing chores himself.

Fins is a veteran South Florida journalist who has covered the region's business and political scenes for decades. The skeptical eye that he developed over those years made him perfect for the job of leading our coverage of the Trump presidency. Questioning the former president's supporters and detractors with equal zeal -- much to their frustration.

Though Trump has left office, Fins maintains a watchful eye on the former president -- and Palm Beach resident-- and his potential 2024 presidential campaign. Because, well, you never know. But we do know that you, our subscribers, want to know. Not Trump's every little movement or statement, but thoughtful perspective when he does something of significance.

For example, Fins noted that Trump, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced, was repeatedly taking the opportunity to say how he would handled things differently -- read that, better -- if he were still president instead of his successor, Joe Biden. Fins reported and penned a front-page story that provided a bit more context about Trump's history with Ukraine while in office.

In emails, rallies and broadcast interviews, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he would have prevented Russia's brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine if he were still in the Oval Office.

The boasting, however, overlooks Trump's sordid Ukraine policy, which was mired in scandal and led to a constitutional crisis. Namely, an impeachment that drew a field of Floridians into the spotlight, from Rudy Giuliani to Boca Raton businessman Lev Parnas, to Congresswoman Val Demings to former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

In interviews, officials and experts who closely watched what transpired in 2019 question whether Trump aggravated what was already a volatile international affairs challenge on the European continent by withholding military aid, roping Ukraine into domestic U.S. politics, guilt-by-association smearing of the country's new president and denigration of the NATO alliance.

"I think all contributed to a precarious status for Ukraine, which would have continued in a second term [for Trump]," said former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Fins' story cut through all the political and partisan noise to state facts, as well as the opinions of experts and observers based on those facts.

This is what we do, over and over again. Every day, with the support of our subscribers, Post reporters and photographers are always out there looking, covering, questioning. Check out more of their work from the past week below.

I hope you enjoy and continue to support local journalism. We're grateful, and we'll make more.

And please, tell a friend.

Rick Christie

Executive Editor

And you can always reach out to me at rchristie@pbpost.com and find me on Twitter at @rchristiepbp. Or send in a news tip to breakingnews@pbpost.com. Subscribe to independent reporting that supports democracy via subscribe.palmbeachpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Best news of the week from Palm Beach Post: Trump is still important