Zelensky had a falling out with Trump. Should we be worried?
Is it over for Ukraine? That seems to be the question the media asks in the aftermath of the meeting between presidents Trump and Zelensky in the White House where they got into an argument. I think that framing of what happened is completely off, as Trump never showed any interest in helping Ukraine. Obviously, Zelensky did not make things better by taking the bait and losing his cool, but America now has a president who is more interested in doing what is best for him personally, and for American interests than what is right and moral. The real story is not about America’s break with Ukraine, but with Europe.
Leaders and thinkers across Europe have had their hair on fire non-stop since Trump’s second term started, and I have even started seeing social media post where Scandinavians try to encourage each other to boycott American products. Some advocate boycotts in light of prominent Trump allies doing Nazi salutes, while others do so in light of Trump being friendly to Russia and hostile to Ukraine. Many, if not most Europeans expected the second Trump administration to be adversarial to Europe, and Trump and his team have dramatically exceeded people’s expectations.
I doubt that there was ever a chance that Trump would be solidly pro-Ukraine. He seems like a genuine Russophile and Ukraine was heavily featured in his first impeachment. But the specifics of how he lets Ukraine down is what is important here. Letting JD Vance belittle Zelensky and demand respect was an unnecessarily callous and unsympathetic way of delivering the news that the US will not help the way it did under Biden. In some ways JD Vance is right. The US is the bigger power, and Ukraine would have fared even worse without its help, showing gratitude is in order. But verbalising those expectations is gosh and ruins any semblance of magnanimity.
Europe too knows that the US is the major power who’s help and generosity almost any given European state would have to rely in if it was invaded. Being cruel to Zelensky is then read not as a single act but as an expression of a new foreign policy framework. If this is how he treats Kyiv why would we expect him to be any nicer to us?
The president and his team make blunder after blunder on Ukraine. Getting into fights with Zelensky and not inviting any Europeans to negotiations with the Russians were completely avoidable mistakes that make the Americans seem clueless at best, and malicious at worst. There is also a palpable sense of unprofessionalism from both sides in the Trump-Zelensky meeting; you should never argue in front of the kids or the cameras.
The takeaway on this side of the Atlantic is that one simply cannot trust Trump. As for why, pick your poison, his administration is either hostile, incompetent, or both. Not someone you want to rely on for your security, whether you’re in Kyiv, Brussels, or Tallin.
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I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.
Written by Karl Johansson
Cover photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels, edited by Karl Johansson
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