25 February 2025, 07:50

By David Kirichenko

The world was still grappling with Donald Trump’s attacks on Europe when he abruptly shifted to targeting Ukraine’s democratically elected president—attempting a mafia-style shakedown of the country while echoing Kremlin talking points.

Echoing Russian propaganda, Trump falsely claimed Ukraine hadn’t held elections in years and that President Volodymyr Zelensky had just a 4% approval rating. “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law,” he said, calling Zelensky a “dictator” and insisting, “Ukraine needs to hold an election... That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me.”

His remarks thrilled former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who mocked: “If you had told me three months ago that these were the words of a U.S. president, I would have laughed out loud.” .

A friendly reminder that this is also the same president that Russia attempted to assassinate multiple times since 2022.

In reality, Trump’s claim about Zelensky’s unpopularity is baseless. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll from early February found that 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky, a five-point rise since December.

Another survey showed that 69% believe he should remain in office until elections can be held after martial law ends. Meanwhile, 63% oppose any national vote before the war is over.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, stated on Sunday that the U.S. is "very........

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