By Tamar Jacoby
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a couple of unforced errors in the last few weeks. They were all small things, the kind of missteps we all make occasionally, and even on the world stage, they might have gone unnoticed. But the Ukrainian leader had no idea what he was up against—a Republican party determined to turn him and the global conflict in Ukraine into this cycle’s political football.
Zelensky and his team had been working for months to cultivate Donald Trump and his entourage. It wasn’t just, as Zelensky said in the letter he sent to Trump on Thursday, that he had always tried to show “respect” for the former president. Like other governments across Europe, the Ukrainians were well aware that Trump had at least an even chance of retaking the White House, and they were determined to establish a relationship. Some even hoped that Trump could be a friend—that unlike Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who have given Kyiv just enough help to hold off the Russian army but not enough to win, Trump might be more decisive, forcing a definitive outcome that might benefit Ukraine.
Kyiv worked tirelessly to forge ties to anyone who might have Trump’s ear—former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Lindsey Graham, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and others. Zelensky held his tongue no matter what Trump said about Ukraine or what foolish boasts he made about ending the war in 24 hours. The Ukrainian leader even called Trump after the first assassination attempt, and the two had what Trump reported was a “very good” conversation.
