Blame Trump for the Oval Office Fiasco with Zelensky

Yes, Ukraine’s president performed incompetently, but he is not the reason for Friday’s debacle.

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President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., February 28, 2025.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The times change. The bipartisan delusion never does. Hence, I’ve had limitless opportunities lo these two-plus decades to proclaim myself a proudly unreconstructed Cold War American (see, e.g., here, here, and here). Complicating something that’s actually very simple leads to such debacles as last Friday afternoon. And no, I’m not talking about what our editorial aptly calls “The Ugly Oval Office Spat,” or at least not mainly about that. I’m talking about the bickering over who is at fault.

The president of the United States is at fault.

Andrew C. McCarthy

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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