Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 27
by Nicole Russell
President Donald Trump’s aggressive approach toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is highly controversial, but it may be the best way to negotiate an end to a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and enters a fourth year locked in a blood-soaked stalemate.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance demonstrated an America-first strategy in their contentious meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday at the White House. Unfortunately, most Democrats and even some Republicans are too blinded by their hatred of Trump to see that as a good thing.
Here’s the key moment in the heated Oval Office exchange. “Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said to Zelenskyy. “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelenskyy responded, “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems. Even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.”
Trump then confronted Zelenskyy: “You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. … You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. … You don’t have the cards right now. … You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”
US minerals deal with Ukraine is up in the air
The meeting then ended, with a diplomatic lunch canceled and a rare earth minerals deal between the United States and Ukraine in limbo.
Trump should have expressed more empathy for all that Ukraine has lost in a war that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin started in 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in Russian attacks on their homeland, hundreds of thousands have lost their homes and millions need humanitarian aid merely to survive.
Is Trump siding with Putin, as critics on the left and right have claimed? I don’t think so.
Trump and Vance’s full exchange with Zelenskyy highlights diplomatic skills that I didn’t know Trump had.
Throughout the conversation, Trump redirected the discussion toward a peace deal with Russia.
Zelenskyy sounded argumentative, demanding and ungrateful, despite the nearly $183 billion that the U.S. Congress “has appropriated or otherwise made available,” according to the Ukraine Status of Funding Dashboard.
The White House announced Monday night that Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy warns US about Russian aggression
In the Oval Office discussion, Zelenskyy said twice that the United States might have to face off against Russia if Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine. Only then did Trump and Vance respond with the tense exchange that quickly went viral Friday.
Trump was firm with Zelenskyy but also calm, which is an important point about a president who isn’t known for his self-control.
It’s also important to note that Trump isn’t the first American president to lose patience with Zelenskyy. In 2022, according to NBC News, then-President Joe Biden lost his temper with Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader demanded more aid.
I can’t blame Zelenskyy for standing up for his country in a war that Russia started. But Trump isn’t wrong about the need to finally end that war. And Trump and Vance aren’t wrong for signaling that the days of U.S. interventionism around the globe are ending.
It is wrong for American progressives to herald Zelenskyy as a hero for putting Ukraine first while villainizing Trump for putting America first.
As Trump said Friday, “I’m not aligned with Putin. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world.”
Author Nicole Russell is a columnist at USA TODAY
