Trump’s MAGA base was happy with his beatdown of Zelensky, and Russia too was thrilled. His Cabinet members each dutifully thanked him for offending Zelensky and “putting America First.” ((I doubt they realized that the “America First” crowd in the 1930s was opposed to helping Europe fight Hitler.)
With the exception of the Fascist leader of Hungary, who consolidated power by undermining the press and the judiciary and demonizing LGBT people, our allies cheered on Zelensky.
One hopes that Europe will unify to protect their border from Putin. Maybe the U.S. will be ejected from NATO.
European leaders quickly pledged their continued support for Ukraine on Friday after President Trump’s blistering criticism of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a meeting at the White House.
Leaders lined up behind Ukraine and praised its embattled president, the statements coming one after the other: from France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Norway, Finland, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Ireland. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand leaders added their voices to the Europeans’.
Even as Western leaders generally shied away from explicitly criticizing Mr. Trump, who had told Mr. Zelensky he was “not in a good position” and angrily threatened to pull American support for Ukraine unless he agreed to a cease-fire deal with Russia, many in Europe addressed their statements of encouragement directly to Mr. Zelensky.
“Your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on social media, referring to Mr. Zelensky. “Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President.”
President Emmanuel Macron of France, who had put on a display of friendship with Mr. Trump during a chummy visit to the White House on Monday, said the United States and Europe had been justified in aiding Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
In a statement, Mr. Macron urged America to remain on the side of the Ukrainians, who he said were “fighting for their dignity, their independence, their children, and the security of Europe.”
Friedrich Merz, who is on track to become Germany’s next chancellor after the country’s election this week, said in a statement addressed to “Dear Volodymyr” that his country would stand behind Ukraine “in good and in testing times.”
“We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war,” Mr. Merz added, apparently referring to Mr. Trump, who has called Mr. Zelensky a dictator and blamed him for the invasion. The departing German leader, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said that Ukraine could rely on Germany and the rest of Europe.
Daniel Fried, a career diplomat under American presidents of both parties who had just returned from a trip to Brussels, said the Oval Office clash had jolted Europe’s capitals, generated a wave of sympathy for Mr. Zelensky and upended a peace process that appeared to be gaining traction.
“The Europeans are horrified and dismayed,” Mr. Fried said, adding that Europeans see the United States shifting to a great-power strategy in which large countries carve up the world. “They’re watching the America they know and respect change in a matter of a couple of weeks.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, a center-left leader who carefully avoided any major disagreements with Mr. Trump during a visit to the White House on Thursday, spoke with Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky on Friday, according to the prime minister’s office. Mr. Starmer “retains his unwavering support for Ukraine and is playing his part to find a path forward to a lasting peace,” the office said in a statement.
Mr. Starmer is scheduled to host in London an international meeting on Ukraine on Sunday with Mr. Zelensky and other leaders from across Europe.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a right-wing nationalist who has long been at odds with much of Europe, appeared to side with Mr. Trump, saying on social media, “Strong men make peace, weak men make war.” He did not mention Ukraine or Mr. Zelensky in his post.
Mr. Trump’s upbraiding of Mr. Zelensky also predictably won praise in Russia. Dmitri Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Telegram that Mr. Trump had told “the truth.”
The Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, joined the European leaders in offering words of support for Ukraine, telling reporters that Ukrainians were “fighting for their own freedoms, but also fighting for ours.”
Ms. Joly, whose country’s relationship with Mr. Trump has been deeply strained by the American president’s threats to annex Canada and plans to impose tariffs, stressed the importance of maintaining Western unity over the war in Ukraine. She said that the Russians were watching.
On Saturday morning in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed the messages of support from Europe. Mr. Albanese said his country was proud to help Ukraine defend itself against “the brutality of Russian aggression.”
Mr. Zelensky responded to each European leader on social media, writing, “Thank you for your support.”
But he offered his most ample statement of gratitude to Mr. Trump, who had said in the Oval Office earlier on Friday that Mr. Zelensky was not “acting at all thankful” for American aid.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” wrote Mr. Zelensky, also thanking Mr. Trump, and adding, “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

I plan to donate to Ukraine. Hope other Americans do too
https://u24.gov.ua/
LikeLiked by 1 person
To our mission as educators, will high school teachers across the country be allowed to use this “current event.”? Will they be allowed to – take the risk to (?) to place in front of students to analyze in context of America’s diplomatic past and patterns of support for those whose freedoms are stiffled?
WIll legislators, especially in our red state, not go crazy attacking schools that expect critical thinking and fact-based dialogue and utilize this historic event? Or, as many do, use it as a notch in their “can’t trust teachers” belt and attack them when attempting to move their legislation?
At minimum, teachers have another response to the students who asks, “Why do we need to know this?” In any history class from any era, February 28th’s severing ties and decades of earned trust with allies around the world is at the top of list why we need to learn about the free press, McCarthy, the (his)story and origin of the Bill of Rights and more.
LikeLike
I’m glad T did this so publicly – let everyone see who he is.
LikeLiked by 3 people
…let everyone see WHAT he is.
LikeLike
“. . . let every one see HOW he is.”
LikeLike
“President Trump’s blistering criticism of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky“
“blistering criticism” is the NYT’s euphemism for a demented, foolish, yelling Trump (and Vance) spewing lies and insults and publicly siding with the authoritarian Putin. “blistering criticism” is the NYT’s euphemism for a Republican President acting in a way that is 1000x more dangerous to our country than Biden’s supposed cognitively failures – but even the slightest suggestion that anything Trump does is “dangerous to America” is verboten in the NYT.
Instead, Trump is just offering “blistering criticism”. Words that cover up a multitude of sins and present a false reality that simply did not happen.
“angrily threatened to pull American support for Ukraine unless he agreed to a cease-fire deal with Russia“
“cease-fire deal” is the NYT’s positive (but false) spin on what Trump was offering.
No, NYT reporter, Trump was not offering a “cease-fire deal”, but the right wing thanks you for informing readers that Trump offered a “cease-fire deal”. Trump demanding that Zelensky totally capitulate to a foreign aggressor who has invaded and bombed an independent country is NOT a “cease-fire deal”.
The Orwellian news coverage of the NYT. Framing their “fair and balanced” both sides news coverage as “is it good or bad that Zelensky will not accept Trump’s cease fire deal?”.
Because reporting that Trump is publicly strong arming and threatening Zelensky if he does not capitulate to Putin is “too biased” to report.
When the reality is that Trump is not offering a “cease fire deal” at all but demanding Zelensky give Ukraine to Putin.
LikeLike
blistering criticism
Yes! What a freaking ridiculous characterization of the wannabe Godfather’s toddler tantrum!
LikeLike
The obvious is that the American right is a fascist movement led by a deranged demagogue. That has more in common with kleptocratic strongmen than Democratic Nations. It has been a long time in the making. Don’t expect that from the NY Times. When this ends people will ask how it happened. The answer whether acknowledged or not will be once again. We never thought ” “It could happen here”. Or to us!
LikeLike
Oh dear…. Viktor Orban seems to have forgotten who started the ‘Special Operation’ .
Meanwhile in the UK:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn5220x56pqt
Further down that feed (at about 16:30 GMT time line, it will be noted Zelensky gets to meet King Charles III….. Before Trump does on any state visit….Charles by the way has a reputation for not restraining himself when meeting folk).
And by the way, thanks to the Oaf in the Whitehouse he has managed to start a possible reinvigorated European wide mobilisation against Russia….nice going Donnie…way to help your boss in the Kremlin.
LikeLike
And Vance. What a fawning toadie! As Yeats’s Crazy Jane says of the Bishop, “Seven hats would not make him a man.”
LikeLike
Right about now no solid-minded American voter thinks Dump+Vance+Musk won an “election.” The crackbrain MAGA Majority Rule does not exist. It is a vicious fiction engineered and enabled by the nouns, adjectives and verbs carefully selected by the media mutts to describe their political pornography not even thinly disguised as journalism. Europe isn’t having any of it. And not just because Putin is panting & plotting at their front & back doors. These unelected 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Hillbilly Elegy Hicks are simply too ill-bred to be believed.
They have instantly demonstrated that they are incapacitated in every way imaginable. Real honest to goodness business people who know how to operate anything from a food stall to a global conglomerate will not allow these yahoos to continue running everyone and everything into the ground.
Thank God the DJT treatment of Zelensky was broadcast far & wide for all to see. Time to cue the old Vaudeville stage-prop shepherd’s hook that was used to pull bad performers bodily from the stage. Every Human Family audience member is now shouting “Give ‘im the hook.”
LikeLike
Trump and Vance behaved like hoodlums. Once they started shouting at Zelensky, they didn’t let him respond.
Zelensky made the cardinal sin of criticizing Putin, which Trump and Vance considered unpardonable. Zelensky knows how many treaties Putin signed and ignored.
Sadly, neither Trump nor Vance are know it all’s who are ignorant of Ukraine’s suffering under Russian domination.
They know nothing of the Great Famine of the 1930s, when Stalin had his troops confiscate Ukrainian grain. Millions of Ukrainians died of starvation.
They do not know that Russia, the U.S. and the UK signed a memorandum with Ukraine in 1994 in Budapest, in which Ukraine surrendered its huge stockpile of nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, promises that their sovereignty would be respected.
Putin said he didn’t sign it, so he was not bound to honor it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rubio’s comments afterward were equally obnoxious. The one person who could end the continuing carnage IMMEDIATELY is PUTIN. All he needs to do is order his troops to come home!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Someone posted:
IF RUSSIA PULLS ITS TROOPS OUT, the war ends.
If UKRAINE stops fighting, its the end of Ukraine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rubio sunk into that couch like he wanted to disappear. His expression was that of a man who just realized how irretrievably he had sold his soul to the Putin puppet. It is beyond sycophancy. It approaches and perhaps exceeds Ted Cruz levels of self abasement.
LikeLike
Exactly. One wonders how long he will continue.
LikeLike
What happened in the Oval Office should have all of us asking, “At long last sir, have you no sense of decency?” It’s an historic question because it marked the beginning of the end of McCarthyism.
Also not asked was, “What about the Budapest Memorandum?” What about it? Is there no one who will ask that question?
LikeLike
Truly ashamed of my country.
LikeLiked by 1 person
On his skiing trip in Vermont, JD Vance was greeted by protesters holding signs excoriating him for his outrageous behavior. 🙂 One sign read, “If you’re going to try to f— the country, we’re going to make it very uncomfortable for you.” And here’s a good one, “Russian Asset Licker.” Gotta love our neighbors in Vermont!
LikeLike
SPITTING ON AMERICAN BLOOD
The soil of Europe is soaked with the blood of American soldiers who died in World War II to stamp out nazism, and JD Vance spat on that blood-soaked soil when he went to Europe and urged European leaders to allow nazism to rise again.
How bitterly sad all those countless American heroes who spilled their blood to end nazism must feel when they look down on our nation today and see nazi flags flying and people wearing nazi tattoos.
My father came back from fighting World War II a broken man from the horrors of war…but at least he came back. He would feel that he and all those tens of thousands of American soldiers who died to end nazism have been betrayed to see nazi flags and symbols which Vance dresses up by calling them “populism”.
TRUMP SAYING that Ukraine should not have gone to war just because Russia invaded Ukraine is THE SAME as Trump declaring that America should not have gone to war against Japan JUST BECAUSE JAPAN BOMBED PEARL HARBOR.
AND NOW, the entire world has witnessed the ugly scene of the President and Vice President of the once-respected United States yelling at the Ukrainian hero, trying to “shake him down” for a “deal” on Ukraine’s mineral resources that lie under fields soaked with the blood or brave Ukrainian soldiers.
Putin is applauding the ugly scene of Trump and Vance yelling at the Ukrainian patriot — but the entire free world is disgusted at how America’s Oval Office has been transformed into a scene from “The Godfather IV”.
THERE WOULDN’T EVEN BE A UNITED STATES if it wasn’t for the generosity of Europe coming to the aid of George Washington’s Revolutionary Army. Europeans gave not only their money and equipment, they also gave their lives — and they never asked to be repaid. George Washington’s Revolutionary soldiers were starving and freezing to death in Valley Forge because state legislatures were bickering about raising taxes to support our Revolutionary soldiers — but France came to their rescue, sending fleets of ships with food, weapons, ammunition, and clothing. For four long years, from 1778 through 1782, France sent fortunes of weapons and ammunition to Washington’s Army.
In 1779, Spain joined, too, sending its navy to fight the British navy from landing troops and weapons all along the southeastern and Gulf coasts. France’s navy fought off the British fleet at Yorktown, keeping British General Cornwallis’s army from being resupplied and reinforced and causing him to surrender to Washington, a turning point in the Revolution that led to the winning of our independence and the real birth of the United States.
Brave European military leaders like Von Steuben and Lafayette risked their lives to fight for us on the battlefields, and many French and Spanish sailors died fighting the British for us because America had no navy.
AND EUROPE DIDN’T ASK TO BE PAID BACK A SINGLE PENNY FOR ANY OF IT.
The ugly spectacle of Trump and Vance demanding that Ukraine pay back our aid by handing over its mineral resources is BEYOND SHAMEFUL and makes America look ugly and greedy in the eyes of the watching world.
LikeLike
Thank you for this timely reminder.
LikeLike
I will have no Internet for 3 weeks & am using it for the first time on a (horrible government) smart phone (so please forgive my errors & brevity). I could only find out about the WH debacle on broadcast & PBS news and no one warned, when the bully brought up the possibility of WW3 that he was talking about us being on the wrong side! Such a big deal (which I easily saw coming long ago) for journalists/pundits l to be ignoring! This is HUGE! ARGH!!!
LikeLike
And they don’t know that Hitler went after the same things in Ukraine, grain for food & other natural resources there, both to support the war effort and for the value of their wealth.
LikeLike