All along Trump’s aim has been to dispose of Zelensky

So much for the flurry of visits by European leaders such as French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer this past week to placate, prod and persuade President Donald Trump to back Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. Kyiv’s lonely battle to retain its sovereignty just got a little bit lonelier as Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky quarreled during a televised meeting in the Oval Office.  

The president and his deputy disrespected Zelensky by telling him that he was being “disrespectful.” It ended with Zelensky being dismissed from the White House, a canceled press conference and the mineral deal with Ukraine in a state of inanition. 

Seldom has a foreign leader been subjected to the kind of harangues that Trump and Vance subjected Zelensky to during his visit to Washington. Atlantic Council nonresident senior fellow Melinda Haring told me, “It was a total set-up — red meat for the Don Jr. crowd.” It was indeed. “This,” Trump said at the close of the meeting, “is going to be great television.” How cool is that? 

All along Trump’s aim has been to dispose of Zelensky. A week ago he referred to him as a “dictator,” a term of abuse consonant with the Kremlin’s depiction of this Churchillian figure who has gallantly battled to preserve his country’s freedom. He and his sidekick Vance showered abuse upon Zelensky, acting as though he, not Putin, were the true criminal. It was Zelensky, Trump declared, who was “gambling” with triggering a potential World War Three.  

At one point, Trump even shoved Zelensky’s shoulder. And at least one foreign leader was pleased by Trump’s bellicosity toward Zelensky. “The insolent pig,” wrote Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, “finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office.” For others, however, Trump’s behavior offered a reminder not only about his emotional volatility, but also about the futility of trying to reach a lasting agreement with him, whether the issue is tariffs or national security. 

Consistent with his hypertrophied view of himself, Trump declared that “I’ve” empowered you to be a tough guy before plunging into a detour about the victimhood that he had experienced during what he called a “phony witch-hunt” over his ties to Russia. Vance rehearsed the shopworn charge that Zelensky, in visiting a Pennsylvania munitions plan during the presidential campaign this past September, had engaged in election propaganda on behalf of Kamala Harris.  

The truth is that Trump choreographed his break-up with Ukraine quite well. With Europe rallying to Ukraine’s side — incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz, a profile in courage, has signaled that he will up financial and military assistance to Ukraine, not to mention establish a special fund to rebuild the Bundeswehr — Trump does not have a free hand to sign a peace deal with Russia that would dispose of the beleaguered country. After the calamitous meeting, Merz tweeted his support for Zelensky, saying “we must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.”  By triggering a spat with Zelensky, Trump is aiming to render him the scapegoat for the failure to reach a deal. In assailing Zelensky, Trump said Dosvidanya to Ukraine.