In a high-stakes meeting with Ukraine’s president, Donald Trump presses Volodymyr Zelenskyy to surrender territory to Vladimir Putin, undercutting America’s credibility and exposing Trump’s alarming ignorance of geopolitics.
This diplomatic pivot is more than just controversial. It reveals a fundamental misunderstanding — or disregard — of how geopolitics and alliances actually function, and makes the U.S. look like it’s taking dictation from Moscow instead of defending global norms. To push a leader whose country is under assault to give up land is grotesque. For a man whose own foreign-policy grasp has repeatedly been challenged, it is breathtaking.
Trump once publicly asserted that Ukraine should reclaim its territory and stand strong. Now he says otherwise — citing doubts over Ukraine’s ability to win and publicly acknowledging that “he’s won certain property,” referring to Putin’s gains.
His shift has come without clear coordination with U.S. allies or a credible strategy, leaving both Europe and Kyiv scrambling.
