Trump-Zelenskyy clash marks a defining turn away from U.S. defense of democracies
Previous American presidents have had tense exchanges with allies. What made this one different was that it featured a US president siding with an autocratic adversary against a nascent democracy.
An ugly and unprecedented confrontation in the Oval Office hammered home President Donald Trump’s hostility toward Ukraine and its president, along with his persistent affinity for Russia’s autocratic ruler.
As television cameras rolled, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the democratically elected leader of a country that has been under attack by Russia since 2014, calling him “ungrateful,” “disrespectful,” and “gambling with millions of lives.”
The lecture left no doubt that Trump sees Ukraine merely as one of the parties in a negotiation, and not as a democratic U.S. ally grappling with the invading force of a much larger, autocratic neighbor, Russia.
It also seemed to illustrate Trump's lopsided negotiating tactics, demanding the weaker side — Kyiv — make concessions instead of trying to pressure Moscow into a compromise.
The extraordinary scene left Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who was in the room, holding her head in her hands — an image that went viral.
Rating: 5