Zelensky Chooses Applause From Democrats Over Survival

You know you’re in trouble if you’re the head of a foreign country that wants massive American military aid and intervention on your behalf and you lose Sen. Lindsey Graham. R-S.C.

But that’s what happened to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week as a result of his meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. He had a choice between securing American support and continued aid for his country’s war with Russia and listening to the advice of Trump-hating Democrats and Europeans who wanted him to grandstand at the administration’s expense.

The only logical choice would have been to avoid conflict with Trump. That would have assured continued U.S. military aid and a minerals deal that would have likely guaranteed that the United States would remain committed to Kyiv’s survival due to economic ties.

But Zelensky couldn’t do it.

And as a result, a shocked Graham was forced to conclude that Ukraine needed a new president if it was going to do business with Washington.

Having spent the last three years being lionized by the international press and world leaders as a 21^st-century Winston Churchill, the Ukrainian president is unused to showing deference to anyone. And that includes the president of the United States, whose good will is necessary if Ukraine is to continue to have America’s backing in peace negotiations as well as the war.

Zelensky was reportedly warned by Graham prior to the White House meeting that all he had to do was behave himself and he would have tied Trump to continued involvement on Ukraine’s side, in spite of the fact that Trump has been publicly skeptical about the war and committed to seeking its end via a peace accord with Russia.

“‘Don’t take the bait,” Graham said he told Zelensky. “Don’t let the media or anyone else get you into an argument with President Trump. What he’s doing today is resetting the relationship.’”

That was good advice.

But getting most of what he wanted out of the White House wasn’t good enough for a man who clearly believes his own public relations propaganda. Zelensky had already twice refused to sign the minerals deal that had been negotiated with the United States, much to Trump’s annoyance.

After 40 minutes at the White House, Zelensky had had enough of behaving himself and proceeded to lecture Trump about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promises being worthless and Moscow also posing a threat to the United States. The purpose of that was to sabotage Trump’s peace efforts and make him look like Putin’s patsy. That in turn prompted both Trump and Vance to respond sharply that he was demonstrating ingratitude and that it is mistaken to prefer continuing the war rather than making peace on the only terms possible.

‘Resistance’ Applauds

If Zelensky’s goal was to win applause from the anti-Trump “resistance,” then he got his wish.

The back-and-forth was widely interpreted by corporate media as Trump and Vance “insulting” the Ukrainian. Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told CNN that, “the White House has become an arm of the Kremlin.”

The New York Times used the spat to double down on the old Russia collusion hoax conspiracy theories in which the Trump was aiding Putin.

In contrast, upon returning to Europe, Zelensky was able to once again bask in the usual adulation. He received warm messages of support from Europe and a private meeting with Britain’s King Charles III as requested.

Left-wing social media was also flooded with praise for Zelensky.

Democrats Push Confrontation

Prior to going to the White House, Zelensky had met with Murphy and other Democrats, who apparently were interested in egging him on to confront Trump. Indeed, as The New York Post reported, Murphy’s office posted on his X account that Zelensky had agreed with them that he wouldn’t go along with Trump’s peace negotiations with Russia without security guarantees.

Murphy later claimed that it was a MAGA conspiracy theory that Democrats were behind Zelensky’s refusal to sign a deal. But it strains credulity to ask us to believe that the Ukrainian wasn’t influenced by the flattery and encouragement he received from both congressional Democrats, former Biden administration figures, and European leaders to stand firm against Trump.

The anti-Trump “resistance” only became interested in Ukraine because of the way it allowed itself to be used by the Democrats to impeach Trump. They got what they wanted out of the controversy and gloried in the attacks on Trump.

Kyiv’s Only Path to Survival

But Ukraine war advocates like Graham are understandably disillusioned. At this point, even Graham and other establishment Republicans have caught on to the fact that a deal with Russia along the lines of that suggested by Trump and Vance is Kyiv’s only path to survival.

No serious person believes that Western European countries will provide the assistance that only the United States can give Ukraine. If Ukrainians are so committed to a war until “victory” over Russia that Murphy and other Democrats still believe is possible, they are welcome to keep fighting, but it isn’t in much doubt that the outcome of such a gambit will be disastrous for the Ukrainian people.

Zelensky Is Full of Himself

By acting as if he need not show a little respect to Trump — such as wearing a suit to the White House rather than his signature G.I. Joe costume or not lecturing the president on American security imperatives — Zelensky committed a colossal blunder. Even someone who is as true a believer in the myths about the Ukraine war being a vital U.S. interest and exporting democracy, as Graham is, can see it.

Zelensky is clearly too drunk on his own self-importance and heroic image to listen to reason and let Trump end the war. If Trump succeeds, the big loser would be Zelensky, since that will force him to face his country’s voters. He might then also be asked to account for the American arms and money that have been fed into the furnace of a disastrous war that has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and been in a stalemate since the initial Russian attack was foiled.

Democrats may think the White House spat will help them damage Trump. But the only person they have hurt with their recycling of their smears about Russia is Zelensky. And he is too full of himself and too committed to the myths about Ukrainian victory and Putin overrunning Europe like the Soviets of old to realize it.

Jonathan S. Tobin is a senior contributor to The Federalist, editor in chief of JNS.org, and a columnist for Newsweek. Follow him on Twitter at @jonathans_tobin.