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LAST UPDATE | 21 Feb 2025
“A DICTATOR WITHOUT elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.”
This was the rhetoric of the President of the United States in a social media post on Wednesday.
This week, Donald Trump also alleged that Ukraine started the war against Russia and that the comedian turned politician had a paltry 4% approval rating.
The reality? Zelenskyy has a 57% approval rating.
Appalling, offensive, absurd and untrue are just four of several strong adjectives that apply to these outbursts from the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces.
The old maxim – one is entitled to one’s own opinions, but not to one’s own facts – springs to mind.
The reaction from prominent figures across Europe and further afield is characterised
by shock, anger and a grave sense of foreboding as to what President Trump’s salvos might portend for Ukraine and beyond.
One truth that should have been obvious to them long ago is now manifest: Trump is not negotiating with Vladimir Putin and the Russians with any concern for Ukraine or the European Union; rather, he is negotiating to end the war as swiftly as possible and isn’t too bothered about the contours of the deal or the consequences thereof.
The quintessential “transactionalist”, he wants to fulfil a campaign pledge in short order.
The predictable, perfectly understandable sentiments of the international community have featured extensively in media reportage and analysis.
When asked to forecast what is next, no one, regardless of her level of experience and expertise, has the answer. It is unknowable.
What can be gauged more accurately, however, is where the citizenry of the US stands. It bears repeating that the American people are the jury that ultimately matters when it comes to this administration’s agenda – to the extent that their democratic will can help accelerate, block or stall it.
Some recent polling may have emboldened the President to attack Volodymyr
Zelenskyy.
CNN statistician Harry Enten cites an array of surveys from Quinnipiac and Marquette universities, as well as the Pew Research Centre, which reveal that there has been a massive jump in the number of those who think the US is providing too much support for Ukraine (from 7% to 41%) and a concurrent precipitous decline (from 72% to 48%) in confidence in Zelenskyy.
Additionally, Enten’s data indicates that 78% of Americans desire a negotiated settlement to the conflict, though it remains unclear what ceasefire conditions would satisfy the respondents.
Conversely, a mere 9% in the Quinnipiac poll say that Putin can be trusted.
This suggests that his counterpart in Washington, DC, perhaps seizing on what he perceives as rising support for his approach to resolving the war, has overshot the mark in cosying up excessively to a widely and justifiably loathed individual.
Trump seems convinced that he can introduce a new détente with Russia through an incongruous combination of flattery for a man who is still enamoured of the old Soviet Union – and punishing sanctions. The vast majority, including a mainly silent, yet quite sizable, cohort of Republicans, disagree vehemently.
There are now three uncertainties.
First, will Trump pull back on or tone down his criticisms of Zelenskyy?
Second, will any in the ranks of the congressional GOP have the courage to declare that the hero of the conservative grassroots is wrong on this occasion?
Third, in their bilateral discussions, is Trump playing Putin or is Putin playing Trump?
As an aside: Trump haters exclaim that, of course, Putin is dominating him. Trump, the argument goes, is a simpleton by comparison, who may be great at checkers, but Putin is a master of chess. Chillingly, this assessment mightn’t account sufficiently for an animating impulse in Trump, a person whose sincerest belief is that the US gets screwed by its enemies and allies alike.
To Trump, even if efforts to quell Putin’s expansionist plans fail, that won’t really
be a problem for the US anymore. As the intellectual father of neo-isolationism, Pat
Buchanan, once wrote in a different context: “Ave atque vale, Europa.”
Hail and farewell, Europe.
This frightening scenario cannot be dismissed summarily, despite a rational case as to its implausibility.
At this fraught moment, increasingly frustrated external observers frequently pose the question: whither the Democrats?
What, if any, initiatives are being undertaken by Trump’s political foes on behalf of the roughly 50% of the voters who didn’t choose the bombastic billionaire and are aghast at his extreme words and deeds thus far?
Democrats are undeniably in crisis. The party is reeling and unmoored in the wake of
the 2024 election in which its significant deficiencies in message, messengers and messaging were laid bare.
To be blunt, Donald Trump triumphed because his rivals’ message was ill sketched out and unpersuasive, because Joe Biden and, subsequently, Kamala Harris were
awful messengers and because Americans thought the messaging was focused on the culture wars instead of the “bread and butter” stuff they prioritise. Party colleagues around the country suffered similarly.
There is no readily identifiable leader and, while we hear of a deep reservoir of talent
and aspirants in possession of abundant ambition, they appear to be in a “wait and see” mode that flows from indecision, caution, self-interest – or a mixture of all three.
This reticence, when building a profile is essential, is odd and enabling.
There are quick, impactful short-term gains within easy reach of those prepared to step
forward.
Go after President Trump’s “weirdo” associate, Elon Musk, who is wielding undue influence and try to drive a wedge between the two men.
Call out the bizarre, risky and damaging foreign policy gambits.
Hammer home the broadly undiminished cost of consumer goods, prescription
medication, education, etc. Crucially, the latest polling shows that Trump’s favourability is finally stagnating and that he is vulnerable on the economy.
Also, make the point that the framers of the US Constitution did not intend the president to be a quasi-king who governs by fiat.
There are plenty more winning propositions. And in this strategic vein, avoid
insulting Trump voters, being consumed by pathetic hysteria and emphasising leftist stances on social issues.
This is how Democrats lose, and lose badly. Remember that most Americans don’t view things the same way as the wealthy donors on the coasts do. Democrats need some of the former grouping on board to prevail.
The opposition has to up its game – “big league” in Trump’s lingo. The stakes have
never been higher.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston attorney, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a political columnist with TheJournal.ie.
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