Biden Finally Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: Zelensky Was Ungrateful
In his new memoir Promise Me, America, Joe Biden admits what his administration spent years denying in public. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could be moody and stubborn in private talks, and he was not as grateful as Biden expected. The Wall Street Journal excerpt makes clear that the man who ran on “as long as it takes” support for Ukraine had grown tired of the constant demands.
Biden even noted that Zelensky’s background as an actor turned out to be very good training for wartime leadership. That is a polite way of saying the Ukrainian leader knew how to perform for cameras while pressing for more aid behind closed doors. The same pattern showed up earlier. In a June 2022 call, after Biden had just approved another $1 billion in assistance, Zelensky immediately listed what else he wanted. Biden reportedly lost his temper and told him the American people were being generous and that a little more gratitude was in order.
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg later revealed that Biden privately called Zelensky a pain in the ass. The public story was always ironclad solidarity. The private reality, now confirmed by Biden himself, was irritation at a leader who treated endless American checks as a given.
The United States poured well over $100 billion into Ukraine under Biden. That money came from American taxpayers at a time of high inflation, strained military stockpiles, and competing priorities at home.
Biden’s memoir now concedes that the man on the receiving end did not even meet the basic expectation of gratitude. Conservatives have said for years that blank-check aid without conditions or accountability was a mistake. Biden’s own words show he eventually reached the same conclusion, even if he never acted on it.-DTP