Photo credits: The Washington Post

No one likes a bully, especially in America. It’s why The Karate Kid defeats Cobra Kai and why anti-bullying campaigns overwhelm public airwaves.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Oval Office and then berated and bullied him on the world’s stage. Trump and Vance ganged up on Zelenskyy, accusing him of being ungrateful for American aid and questioning his leadership capabilities.

“I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said. “Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”

This interaction was a major embarrassment for Americans on a global scale. Trump blatantly aligned himself with Russia while expressing a total lack of empathy for Ukraine. Trump seems to have forgotten that Russia was the one to invade Ukraine, not the other way around.

In the meeting, Trump repeatedly criticized former President Joe Biden, who he refers to as “not a smart person,” on how much financial and military contribution he gave to Ukraine on behalf of the United States.
“You’ve got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards,” Trump said.

Trump either forgets or is ignorant to the shared and binding history of the two nations. The United States’ obligation to protect Ukraine goes beyond assisting a country in need that was unjustly attacked. Instead, it dates back to the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994.

The Budapest Memorandum was the result of the fallout from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine inherited the 3rd largest worldwide arsenal of nuclear weapons. In order for Ukraine to show a commitment to the previously established Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1970), they were encouraged to relinquish them.

Ukraine did so with the assurance that its sovereignty and territorial integrity would be respected. The other component of this agreement was that Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom would provide security assistance to Ukraine in their time of need.

Russia not only infringed on the agreement but completely obliterated it. It is the duty of the United States to support Ukraine, not to side with blood-hungry dictators like Vladimir Putin.

Regardless of the warm and fuzzy feelings Trump may have for Putin, respectable leaders do not authorize military invasions on neighboring countries on a whim. Leaders with decency do not allow their armed forces to commit war crimes and murder civilians, but that’s who Trump has chosen to align with.

“Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt,” Trump said. “All I can say is this. He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he did. I don’t know what happened, but he didn’t break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if you can make a deal.”

Throughout the Russian and Ukrainian War, Russians have tortured Ukrainian prisoners of war in horrific ways such as beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence including rape sometimes with objects as well as mutilation.

Russian troops have continuously targeted civilians during the conflict. Hospitals, restaurants, and shopping centers have all been heavily bombed resulting in massive civilian casualties, including children.

Luckily, Trump and Vance have never had to be in Zelenskyy’s position as the leader of a country that has experienced a constant battle for sovereignty against Russian aggressors and unimaginable horrors. Their remarks serve as an evident reminder of their lack of compassion for a nation that desperately needs American support.

This incident speaks not only to the intentions of the President and Vice President to be allied with Russia but also to their true character and values. In other words, it was a failure of decency.