The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has attacked President Donald Trump for his “assault” on Ukraine, warning that his “seeming desperation” for a peace deal could come at the expense of his own presidency.
Yesterday, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” who started the war with Russia. Conversely, Trump has long supported Russian President Vladimir Putin both personally and in policy.
The editorial board wrote: “The only dictator in the war is Mr. Putin, who poisons exiled Russians on foreign soil and banishes opponents to Arctic prison camps. Call us when he holds a free election.”
The Rupert Murdoch paper says that Trump “mimicked Russian propaganda by claiming Ukraine had started the war with Russia.”
“Mr. Trump may also think he can turn Ukrainians against Mr. Zelensky. But the irony is that Mr. Trump’s lashing may have the opposite effect, especially if they see Mr. Zelensky opposing a bad deal forced on them by a U.S.-Russia pact that includes no credible security guarantee against future Russian marauding,” the paper said.
“As it stands now, Mr. Trump’s seeming desperation for a deal is a risk to Ukraine, Europe, U.S. interests—and his own Presidency.”
They said that Zelensky’s retort to Trump, which suggested he’s living in a “disinformation space,” was accurate.
The paper also compared Trump’s tactics to former President Joe Biden, who “tried to wash his hands of Afghanistan, but instead his retreat set in motion a chain of global crises that defined his Presidency.”
Ultimately, they said, any deal that results in Ukraine’s surrender will be a “blow to American power” that has longterm and widespread consequences.
“It would be the opposite of Mr. Trump’s promise to restore a golden age of U.S. prestige and world calm,” the paper said.
Read it at The Wall Street Journal
