Trump Failed Ukraine, the Cause of Freedom and the American People

on Mar 4, 2025

SAN DIEGO -- It's too bad the Academy Awards are over with. President Donald Trump would be a shoo-in for what could well be the performance of a lifetime.

If Trump isn't really a compromised Russian asset who puts Moscow's interests ahead of those of the United States, he sure plays that role phenomenally well.

The Trump administration has now made it official by pausing further U.S. military aid to Ukraine. According to news reports, more than $1 billion in arms shipments are stuck in the pipeline.

The retreat follows a stunning act of inhospitality at the White House toward a guest who is also a friend and ally. After Trump and Vice President JD Vance double-teamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week in a verbal ambush, both Trump and Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful. They had it backward. They were the ones who acted disrespectfully -- not just to Zelenskyy but also to the American people. After all, these two jokers were acting in our name, and on our dime.

The ruckus served as a convenient way for Trump to end a thorny relationship that he inherited from his predecessor and didn't want anything to do with.

Let's make sure we have the correct order of things. It wasn't the White House shouting match that ended the aid to Ukraine. It was the administration's desire to end the aid that set the stage for the shouting match. Zelenskyy's visit to Washington -- ostensibly to sign a mineral deal with the United States -- was just a formality. If it went badly, which it did, it could be an excuse to file for divorce.

Everyone at that Oval Office meeting had his own agenda.

First, Vance was trying to impress his boss (Trump), reclaim his voice and remind everyone that he is still vice president, even though it has appeared that multibillionaire Elon Musk is occupying that job.

Meanwhile, Trump was trying to impress his boss (Russian President Vladimir Putin) and signal that he is done with Europe and World War II-era alliances and what he really wants is to cut deals with Russia.

Zelenskyy was looking for long-term security guarantees from the United States before signing the mineral deal; Trump refused because, he said, the perception that he is too close with Ukraine would hurt his standing to negotiate a peace deal with Russian.

And finally, Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- who looked like he was in a hostage video and should have been holding up a newspaper -- was sinking into the couch and looking for a place to hide. The son of Cuban immigrants should be ashamed of himself.

But most of the shame belongs with the ringleader of the circus. There is so much about The United States that Trump doesn't understand. He doesn't care about our nation's history, values, traditions, alliances, interests or place in the world. Worse, he is not the least bit curious to learn what he doesn't know.

For instance, it will come as news to Trump that America really does take in the "best" migrants that other countries have to offer. The complacent, the lazy, the fearful and the unimaginative tend to stay home. We get the dreamers, the hard workers, the risk takers and the go-getters. We make out like bandits.

And now, what the Ukraine debacle shows us is that Trump is just as clueless when it comes to understanding that the whole point of U.S. foreign policy is that we stand up for the little guy against the big guy. As Trump sees it, America -- as a major power -- should hold down the little guy so the big guy can land a knockout blow.

By now, I've watched video of the Oval Office showdown several times, and I wince each time. It's embarrassing and painful. And it makes me physically nauseous when I think about how much personal joy the meltdown brought to Putin.

The Russian president bit off more than he could chew when he invaded a small country whose big-hearted people have fought like lions. In a war that has so far resulted in more than 1 million casualties (many of them Russian), Putin has -- with desertions on the rise -- been forced to recruit replacements from North Korea.

Trump delighted in lecturing Zelenskyy about how the Ukrainian leader doesn't "have the cards"? Well, what kind of cards does Putin have? All he is holding is a pair of jokers.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.