That triggered Trump to unleash the kind of hyperbolic invective usually reserved for whatever political opponent he’s attempting to vanquish on any given day. In a post first on Truth Social and then on X, Trump called Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian” who “talked the U.S. into a war that couldn’t be won” and is a “dictator without elections” who played President Joe Biden “like a fiddle” and wants to “keep the gravy train going.” He included a not-so-subtle threat: “Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” and claimed he alone is capable of ending the war in Ukraine by negotiating with Russia.

Hell hath no fury like Trump after he’s been fact-checked. Yesterday, unchastened, Trump doubled down and expanded on all his inaccurate claims in remarks to the Future Investment Initiative Institute in Miami, Florida. “I love Ukraine, but Zelensky has done a terrible job. His country is shattered, and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died,” Trump said. 

“I wish Trump’s team had more truth,” Zelensky said in response to Trump’s fusillade of falsehoods. “If anyone wants to replace me right now, then it just isn’t going to happen.”

PLENTY OF PUSHBACK: Trump’s tirade prompted many Republicans to express dismay, just not any direct criticism of the president from anyone who might need something from him in the future. 

“Mr. President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives,” his former vice president, Mike Pence, posted on X. “The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth.”

“Trump’s characterizations of Zelensky and Ukraine are some of the most shameful remarks ever made by a U.S. President,” his former national security adviser John Bolton posted on X. “Our support of Ukraine has never been about charity, our way of life at home depends on our strength abroad.”

But perhaps the most lucid corrective information came from former Army Vice chief of staff retired Gen. Jack Keane, chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, who noted in an appearance on Fox News that Zelensky remains highly popular with a poll this morning putting his approval rating at 57%, not 4% as Trump claimed.

“The Constitution of Ukraine prohibits elections when you declare martial law because a state of war takes place, and obviously, the incumbent who is trying to run a war to be involved in an election and bringing people together in primaries and other elections puts the people at risk,” Keane said. “There’s two other parts of that martial law. If you’re 18 to 60 years of age and a male, you can’t leave the country, and also, they’re curbing civil liberties, particularly freedom of movement, by curfews in the contested areas.”

“They are acting democratically in my judgment and abiding by their Constitution, and also, the parliament is supporting it, which represents the people throughout the country,” he added. “These are democratic actions taking place in the democratic country. I don’t believe we should try and push elections on Zelensky during the middle of this war. If there is a peace agreement, I think Zelensky and others, and the people themselves, will demand an election, and it would likely take place assuming the peace agreement has some real legs to it.”

Then, there was the post on X by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “Of course Ukraine didn’t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor. Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945. Of course Zelenskyy’s ratings are not 4%. They are actually about the same as Trump’s,” Johnson said. “Trump’s statements are not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action.”

“What he has done more than anything actually is probably unite Ukrainians behind Zelensky,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a longtime Trump antagonist, said on CNN. “I mean, even Zelensky’s potential opponent, [fired] Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has said, ‘Now’s not the time for an election. We can’t pull it off.’” But Donald Trump has been feeding Russian talking points right back to the American people. And there’s no way that he’s actually on Ukraine’s side when he’s knowingly doing that.”

‘MENTAL GYMNASTICS’: While Democrats in Congress denounced Trump’s attack on Zelensky in the most strident terms, Republicans were relatively muted, generally expressing disagreement over the characterization of Zelensky as a dictator while refraining from any direct rebuke of Trump’s remarks.

“When it comes to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I blame Putin above all others,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted on X. “If you’re looking for American politicians to blame, Biden and Obama are at the top of my list.”

“President @realDonaldTrump is Ukraine’s best hope to end this war honorably and justly,” Graham concluded. “I believe he will be successful and he will achieve this goal in the Trump way.”

Many seem to have taken to heart a threat that Vice President JD Vance delivered to Zelensky via an interview with the Daily Mail, warning that opposing Trump generally doesn’t end well. “The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media,” Vance told the British paper in a West Wing interview, “everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.”

“I mean, Russia is the aggressor here, there’s no question about that,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). “I’m hopeful that the discussions that they’re having lead us to some sort of an agreement that will bring the war to an end.”

“The mental gymnastics that you see Republicans undertaking to somehow justify the unjustifiable, to somehow justify literally supporting our enemies, which is the definition of treason, is amazing,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said on CNN last night. “They’re just scared of Trump. They’re so scared of Trump, they can’t present the truth to the American people.”

“Behind the scenes, Democrats like myself, especially those of us who do have good relationships with Republicans across the aisle, especially on national security committees like the Armed Services Committee, we’re trying to convince our Republican allies to just have some courage to say in public what they’re saying in private,” Moulton said. “This is truly unprecedented in American history, and it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous for our National Security because if Trump goes around supporting our adversaries, supporting dictators who invade sovereign countries, then at some point they’re going to invade countries with security guarantees from the U.S., and American troops are going to be fighting and dying.”

TRUMP SHARPENS CRITICISM OF ZELENSKY AS US ENVOY HEADS TO KYIV

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE

HAPPENING TODAY: DEFENSE CUTS ARE COMING: Congressional Republicans have been banking on the Trump administration making significant increases to the defense budget, adding upwards of $100 billion to the $850 billion in the current burden, which was constrained by a budget deal brokered by House Republicans in 2023. 

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering senior military leaders to find money in the current proposed budget for fiscal 2026, which starts in October, that can be shifted away from Biden priorities to Trump priorities. The order calls for “offsets” amounting to 8% over the next five years, or roughly $50 billion.

“The Department of Defense is conducting this review to ensure we are making the best use of the taxpayers’ dollars in a way that delivers on President Trump’s defense priorities efficiently and effectively,” said Robert Salesses, who is performing the duties of deputy secretary of defense, in a statement released last night. “To achieve our mandate from President Trump, we are guided by his priorities, including securing our borders, building the Iron Dome for America, and ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”

The Feb. 18 memo lists 17 areas that are off-limits, according to Bloomberg, who first reported the memo on Monday. “In addition to border enforcement, the exempt list includes the Virginia-class submarine, what it terms ‘executable surface ship programs,’ homeland missile defense, the Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft, one-way attack drones, ‘priority critical cybersecurity, munitions and Indo-Pacom construction projects’ and private sector medical care,” Bloomberg reported.

“I will conduct a relook” of what’s been prepared to date, Hegseth wrote, setting a Feb. 24 deadline for responses.

“Through our budgets, the Department of Defense will once again resource warfighting and cease unnecessary spending that set our military back under the previous administration, including through so-called ‘climate change’ and other woke programs, as well as excessive bureaucracy,” said Salesses. 

PENTAGON IDENTIFIES PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES FOR DOGE

THE RUNDOWN:

Washington Examiner: Trump sharpens criticism of Zelensky as US envoy heads to Kyiv

Washington Examiner: 2025 German elections: Key leaders on the ballot

Washington Examiner: Pentagon identifies probationary employees for DOGE

Washington Examiner: Hamas expected to hand over bodies of Bibas family: ‘A day of grief’

Washington Examiner: Military presence at southern border expected to increase as illegal crossings drop

Washington Examiner: Greg Abbott: Illegal immigrant crossings in Eagle Pass, Texas, nearly cease under Trump

Washington Examiner: Noem deputizes up to 600 State Department employees as immigration officers

Washington Examiner: Senators move to crack down on cross-border smuggling at ports of entry

Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Americans should be ‘a little irritated’ with Europe, especially Germany

Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan: The challenge and necessity of peacekeeping troops for Ukraine

Washington Post: Trump’s attack on Zelensky stirs fear of major U.S. shift on Russia

USA Today: Pentagon Is Next in DOGE Layoff Sights as Probationary Hires Are Tallied

ABC: Hegseth Could Soon Fire or Remove Generals and Senior Officers, US Officials Say

NBC News: US Condemns ‘Dangerous’ Chinese Maneuvers After Close Encounter with Philippine Plane

New York Times: A Frustrated Trump Wants His New Air Force One Planes Pronto

The War Zone: Massive WWII B-29 Bomber Base Fully Reclaimed for Future Pacific Fight

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Launches Unarmed ICBM for First Test of 2025

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Hegseth Seeks $50B in Cuts to Pay for New Priorities

Air & Space Forces Magazine: SDA, Its Boss Still in Limbo, Cancels a Disputed Contract

Breaking Defense: Pentagon’s $96M Wearable Contract Sparks Protest, Accusations of Vendor Preference

Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Report Critiques Space Force’s Theory for Countering China

Defense One: Microsoft-DARPA Collaboration Yields Possible Quantum Chip Breakthrough

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Can Troops Be Paid More Efficiently? New Report Explores How

Defense News: Opinion: Spending, Troops, and Asia: Three Ideas for Europe to Stabilize NATO

THE CALENDAR: 

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 20

8 a.m. 775 12th St. NW — National Defense Industrial Association 35th annual Special Operations Symposium: “Special Operations in an Era of Strategic Competition,” with Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Command; former Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, NDIA president and CEO; Air Force Lt. Gen. Sean Farrell, deputy commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; retired Army Lt. Gen. Ken Tovo, president and CEO of DOL Enterprises, Inc. and former commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; former Defense Undersecretary for Policy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors LLC; Rear Adm. Mark Schafer, commander, Special Operations Command South; Rear Adm. Jeromy Williams, commander, Special Operations Command Pacific; Army Command Sgt. Maj. Shane Shorter, senior enlisted leader of the U.S. Special Operations Command; and retired Army Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, former commander, Army Special Operations Command; Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Army Lt. Gen. Thomas James, deputy commander, U.S. Space Command; Army Lt. Gen. Richard Angle, commander, Allied Special Operations Forces Command, North Atlantic Treaty Organizations/Special Operations Command Europe; Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commanding general of the Army Special Operations Command; and retired Vice Adm. Ross Myers, former deputy commander, U.S. Cyber Fleet Command/10th Fleet; Sandra Hobson, principal deputy assistant Defense secretary for special operations/low-intensity conflict; Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, director of J7 Joint Force Development; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan, vice commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; and Force Master Chief Petty Officer Walter Dittmar, force master chief of the Naval Special Warfare Command; House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA); Melissa Johnson, acquisition executive at the U.S. Special Operations Command; and Air Force Lt. Gen. David Harris Jr., deputy chief of staff at Air Force Futures; https://tinyurl.com/3r4suw6m

9 a.m. 608 Dirksen — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on “An Axis of Autocracy? China’s Relations with Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” with Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Center for New American Security’s Transatlantic Security Program; Christopher Walker, vice president for studies and analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy; Christopher Chivvis, senior fellow and director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s American Statecraft Program; Kimberly Donovan, director of the Atlantic Council’s Economic Statecraft Initiative; Elina Ribakova, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics; Anthony Ruggiero, adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Elizabeth Wishnick, senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses; Jemima Baar, independent researcher; Jake Rinaldi, defense analyst at the U.S. Army War College; and Sheena Chestnut Greitens, associate professor at the University of Texas Austin https://www.uscc.gov

10 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. virtual discussion: “A Foreign Policy Memo for the New U.S. Administration,” with Kristine Berzina, managing director of GMF North; Lindsay Gorman, managing director of GMF Technology; Andrew Small, senior fellow at the GMFUS Indo-Pacific Program; and Ian Lesser, GMFUS fellow https://www.gmfus.org/event/foreign-policy-memo-new-us-administration

10 a.m. — Wilson Center virtual discussion: “Arabs and Israelis: From October 7 to Peacemaking,” with Shai Feldman, chair of Israeli politics and society at the Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies and professor of politics at Brandeis University; Abdel Monem Said Aly, chairman of the board and CEO of the Al Masry Al Youm Publishing House; Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, member of the Arab Barometer’s Steering Committee and senior fellow at the Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies; and Robin Wright, fellow at the Wilson Center and author and columnist for the New Yorker https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/discussion-arabs-and-israelis

8 p.m. 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore, Md. — Stevenson University “Baltimore Speaker Series” with retired Adm. James Stavridis, the 16th NATO supreme allied commander https://www.baltimorespeakers.org/speakers/

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 21

8:30 a.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual discussion: “Trump and Ishiba Meet for the First Time – What Comes Next?” with former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield; chairman emeritus, Stimson Center’s Board of Directors; Kunihiko Miyake, director and special adviser of the Canon Institute for Global Studies; and Yuki Tatsumi, senior fellow and co-director of Stimson’s East Asia Program and director of Stimson’s Japan Program https://www.stimson.org/event/trump-and-ishiba-meet-for-the-first-time-what-comes-next/

12 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: “What Drives Russians to Support the War?” with Natalia Savelyeva, researcher at the Public Sociology Laboratory and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Ivan Grek, director of George Washington University Institute for European, Russian and European Studies Russia Program https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/what-drives-russians-to-support-the-war

2 p.m. — Defense Priorities virtual discussion: “Syria After Assad: Prospects for U.S. Withdrawal,” with Rosemary Kelanic, director, Middle East Program, Defense Priorities; Dana Stroul, director of research and Shelly and Michael Kassen Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Steven Simon, visiting professor of practice, University of Washington; and Daniel DePetris, fellow, Defense Priorities https://www.defensepriorities.org/events/syria-after-assad