An unprincipled bully is now basically ruling the world

The whole world is talking about the disagreement between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday. Arguably for the first time in US history, a president has broken diplomatic etiquette and insulted a head of state live on television. This sets a very bad precedent.

It was like a poorly-written piece of theatre, with the American president and vice president taking the lead in front of a group of journalists loyal to Trump in supporting roles. One of the compliant hacks began by provoking Zelenskyy by asking him: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit.”

Zelenskyy replied firmly: “I will wear costume [a suit] after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better, I don’t know. Maybe something cheaper.”

Trump intervened calmly at this point, telling his pet reporter that he liked Zelenskyy’s outfit as he gently patted him on the shoulder.

Then the melodrama began in earnest, with Trump opening his attack on Zelenskyy, describing him as weak and saying that if it were not for America’s help during Biden’s time in the White House, Ukraine would have fallen to the brutal Russian invasion. Although Zelenskyy admitted this and responded by thanking America, Vice President JD Vance intervened loudly and accused the Ukrainian leader of not being grateful enough.

This is when Zelenskyy began to counterattack.

He asked Vance why he was raising voice, and pointing out that he had said that he was grateful to America. Trump then defended his foolish vice president and told Zelenskyy that he is “gambling with world war three”. The two Americans then ganged up on Zelenskyy and bullied him in an attempt to intimidate him, turning the discussion into an argument in which Trump insulted Zelenskyy by telling him that, “You don’t have the cards right now”; that he is essentially facing defeat and has no right to dictate terms. If he doesn’t sign a deal now, said Trump, Ukraine will be left to fight on alone.

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Zelenskyy left the stage — or was dismissed from the White House, to be precise — and the curtain fell on the strangest political power play that the world has witnessed. Regardless of the political, economic and global consequences for what happened in the Oval Office, the truth is that Zelenskyy, despite falling into Trump’s trap and being insulted, was strong and did not accept the constant insults hurled at him. I wonder what the result would have been if the president of an Arab country had been in Zelenskyy’s position?

Trump’s apparent dismissal of Zelenskyy from the White House is evidence of the Ukrainian’s steadfastness and refusal to submit to the arrogance and tyranny of the US president.

Trump, of course, is obsessed with power, deals and money.

The White House bully wanted Zelenskyy to sign an agreement to give the US half of Ukraine’s rare mineral wealth as compensation for what Washington has paid to Kyiv during the war. He stressed that it is the right of the American taxpayers for payback — hmm, does Israel have to do anything in return for the billions it gets from the US every year? — while Zelenskyy wants to liberate his country from Russian occupation and secure its borders and future.

This fiery meeting took place days before the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which, from Moscow’s perspective, is an existential battle for its role as a major player in global geopolitics and, ultimately, its return as a superpower as it was during the Cold War.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Eastern European republics that were part of the USSR or in its orbit through the Warsaw Pact, now make up around half of NATO’s membership: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Macedonia. This means there are no remaining buffer states between Russia and NATO apart from Belarus and Ukraine. Russia believes that if they join the organisation, then it would be surrounded by NATO, which could then impose suffocating terms on Moscow, leading to its disappearance from the global geopolitical map.

The Western agenda has been for Ukraine to join NATO, which is unacceptable to Russia.

However, Trump the bully sees no strategic interest for the US in the Ukrainian war; instead he sees it as a strategic mistake for America to be involved in the Ukrainian quagmire. He believes that Washington needs to devote itself to confronting China instead of chasing unseen gains from NATO’s expansion in Moscow’s vital sphere of influence. This is why he took the initiative to contact his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and called the Biden administration backward for its policy towards Moscow.

The Europeans now fear that they will find themselves with a role in managing an armed conflict on their doorstep involving a nuclear-armed state. Trump, remember, bypassed the EU and reached an agreement with Russia on Ukraine without any European participation in their meeting in Riyadh. Indeed, Ukraine was even excluded from the discussions.

As far as the Europeans are concerned, what Trump has agreed does not guarantee sufficient protection for Ukraine, and thus for Europe too. Washington’s response to the Kremlin’s goals will harm the credibility of NATO and destabilise it, say the Europeans. The “planned political mugging” of Zelenskyy by Trump and Vance, as one diplomatic observer described the Oval Office farce, simply strengthens concerns about European security. For the rest of us, it is clear that an unprincipled bully is now basically ruling the world.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.