TRUMP CALLS FOR ZELENSKYY’S REPLACEMENT—AND THE ANGER IS BEING FELT AROUND THE WORLD
President Donald Trump has publicly called for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a leader willing to conclude an agreement with Russia.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump told journalists, claiming Zelenskyy had rejected numerous opportunities to end the war. He then accused the Ukrainian president of creating problems for American farmers by striking Russian oil refineries.
Trump said Ukraine could do anything against Russia—except attack the facilities producing diesel—before warning: “He better damn well stop.”
The outrage this has created reaches far beyond Ukraine.
European governments spent years reducing their dependence on Russian energy, reorganizing supply chains and accepting higher costs to deprive Putin’s war machine of revenue. Ukrainians have endured invasion, occupation and daily bombardment. American lawmakers from both parties have supported sanctions intended to restrict the income financing Russia’s military.
Now the president of the United States is demanding that Ukraine protect the aggressor’s oil industry while publicly calling for the removal of the Ukrainian leader who refuses to surrender his country’s most effective economic weapon.
Ukraine’s leadership is chosen by Ukrainians—not by an American president attempting to protect Russian fuel supplies ahead of a difficult midterm election.
Zelenskyy even offered a reciprocal arrangement: Ukraine would stop attacking Russian refineries if Russia stopped destroying Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Trump rejected that condition and demanded that Ukraine restrain itself unilaterally.
Putin offered nothing comparable. He would not even commit to restarting peace negotiations after receiving sanctions relief and access to renewed diesel revenue.
The claim that Ukraine created America’s diesel crisis is equally dishonest. The enormous disruption in the Middle East followed the American-led war with Iran. Ukraine is now being blamed because its campaign against Russian refineries is politically inconvenient for Trump.
While Trump attacked Zelenskyy, Russian bombs were tearing through residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 20 civilians—including three children.
Yet Trump did not question Putin’s leadership. He questioned the leader of the country being bombed.
That contrast is being seen in Kyiv, across Europe and inside the United States. Allies are watching Washington reward Moscow, pressure Ukraine and undermine the sanctions they collectively sacrificed to enforce.
Perhaps the United States does need a new president—one who recognizes that the aggressor is Russia, understands that Russian oil finances Russian weapons and does not demand that Ukraine weaken its own defense to protect his political fortunes.