It looked like a terrible mistake—impulsive, emotional, self-indulgent, and all but sure to be disastrous for his country. Learning of Donald Trump’s early October decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports and buy more than 2 million barrels of fuel from Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out, calling it a “weak decision” and a “happy birthday present for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Nearly two years into Trump’s second, unfettered presidency, few foreign leaders have dared to push back so firmly against his bullying. Certainly, no one had called him “weak”—the ultimate insult for a would-be alpha male like Trump—and only Chinese President Xi Jinping had successfully defied him, meeting American tariffs with Chinese tariffs and forcing the U.S. leader to back down.
How could wartime Ukraine, already fighting for its life and deeply dependent on U.S. weapons and intelligence, pull off such defiance? Surely, Trump would crush Zelensky, as he has crushed so many smaller opponents, foreign and domestic.
