The clearest statement yet that Trump favours Russia

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/03/2025 (213 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was an awful display of craven politics, and watching it as it occurred, it was impossible not to have a sinking feeling about what is going to happen next — not just in Ukraine, but around the world.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was essentially attacked for not being gracious enough in the face Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s murder of Ukrainian civilians and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and Russia’s continuing effort to capture more Ukrainian territory.

More than anything else, he was dressed down for not being grateful enough to U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance for American aid. Heck, he was even dressed down for dressing down — for not wearing a suit, which he hasn’t done since the Russian invasion three years ago.

It seems clear the Trump/Vance attack was deliberate and planned in advance, designed to cow Zelenskyy and make Trump appear powerful. But the key concern — that Zelenskyy wasn’t grateful for American assistance, is obviously false. Zelenskyy has made a point of thanking Americans for their support of Ukraine. Heck, one four-and-a-half minute video stream shown on X this weekend shows Zelenskyy thanking the United States 94 different times for its support between February 24, 2022 and now.

Zelenskyy left the U.S. shortly after the meeting, heading to Europe to seek additional support for Ukrainians. Trump flew to Florida to play golf, and Vance went to Vermont for a skiing holiday.

It seems clear — if it wasn’t already — that under President Trump, the government of the United States is more concerned with currying favour with Russian President Vladimir Putin than anything else. The U.S. voting with countries like Russia and North Korea at the United Nations in refusing to condemn Russia for its invasion, Trump’s musings that territory gained by Russia in Ukraine should be Russia’s because they “fought for that land” and “lost a lot of soldiers,” the U.S. refusal to back Ukraine with any security guarantees for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, Trump’s plan to restart trade with Russia even as missiles continue to strike Ukraine…

Last Friday was the clearest statement yet that, under Trump, America is aligning itself with Russia above any of its traditional allies.

If Trump isn’t straight out a Russian asset, then he is for certain Russia’s useful idiot. He has single-handedly done more damage to traditional alliances to directly benefit Russia in just over a month in office than even seems possible.

He is a clear and present danger to global trade and global security, even as he claims to be working for peace, and Canada has to act as quickly as possible to insulate ourselves from the damage the United States can do to us with him at the helm.

We have to make and strengthen military alliances and trade deals with European nations, and we have to make similar deals with countries like Australia and New Zealand. We have to expand our military and arm it with better weapons. We have to plan for the post-American global order, as our neighbour becomes more insular and inwards-looking, and we have to do it even if that road is going to be personally difficult for Canadians.

Donald Trump showed clearly on Friday just what sort of disdain he has for the lives of Ukrainians, Ukrainians who are still being murdered inside their own country on a daily basis by a foreign invader.

It’s hard, at this point, to believe that his response would be any different for any country in the rest of the world.

That Trumpian response is — as was clearly displayed in the Oval Office on Friday — “What’s in it for me?”

American leadership in the world is seriously wounded, if not lost completely.