Trump Makes His Hostility to Ukraine’s Cause Clear

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stepped in it when he and his advisers allowed Democratic elected officials to use him as a political prop. Dan and Michael both have made this inarguable point. Indeed, Zelensky’s own interests are imperiled if his country’s continued sovereignty becomes a partisan wedge issue. Democrats will not always be in power. And yet, for those who do not view the conduct of American foreign policy as a proxy theater for the prosecution of domestic political grievances, Zelensky’s photo ops should have no bearing on the conduct of America’s strategic initiatives overseas.

Dispassion may be too much to ask of the political class five weeks before a general election. But the cars in which Zelensky travels in the United States and his joint appearances with Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro at a Scranton-based weapons-manufacturing facility have no relation to whether it’s good or bad for America if Russia swallows up more of Ukraine and closes in on NATO’s borders. And if we’re all just deferring to our human frailties here, we cannot begrudge Zelensky his own. It was certainly imprudent of him, as Dan noted, to criticize J. D. Vance’s disparagement of Ukraine’s case in an interview with the New Yorker’s Joshua Yaffa. But if Vance can (and regularly does) appeal to isolationist-flavored sentimentality to popularize his utter disregard for the preservation of the U.S.-led world order in Europe, it’s hard to resent Ukraine’s president’s emotive distaste for those remarks.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stepped in it when he and his advisers allowed Democratic elected officials to use him as a political prop. Dan and Michael both have made this inarguable point. Indeed, Zelensky’s own interests are imperiled if his country’s continued sovereignty becomes a partisan wedge issue. Democrats will not always be in power. And yet, for those who do not view the conduct of American foreign policy as a proxy theater for the prosecution of domestic political grievances, Zelensky’s photo ops should have no bearing on the conduct of America’s strategic initiatives overseas.

Dispassion may be too much to ask of the political class five weeks before a general election. But the cars in which Zelensky travels in the United States and his joint appearances with Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro at a Scranton-based weapons-manufacturing facility have no relation to whether it’s good or bad for America if Russia swallows up more of Ukraine and closes in on NATO’s borders. And if we’re all just deferring to our human frailties here, we cannot begrudge Zelensky his own. It was certainly imprudent of him, as Dan noted, to criticize J. D. Vance’s disparagement of Ukraine’s case in an interview with the New Yorker’s Joshua Yaffa. But if Vance can (and regularly does) appeal to isolationist-flavored sentimentality to popularize his utter disregard for the preservation of the U.S.-led world order in Europe, it’s hard to resent Ukraine’s president’s emotive distaste for those remarks.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.