President Donald Trump touched the proverbial third rail by negotiating directly with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. His diplomatic overtures have angered liberals, who see Trump as threatening the global order, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who, in a fit of extraordinary arrogance, accused Trump of spouting Russian “disinformation.” Trump then responded by calling Zelenskyy a “modestly successful comedian” and even an unpopular “dictator” responsible for mass bloodshed.

This feud comes after Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, signaled a turn away from liberal Europe with a recent speech in Munich, in which he chastised Eurocrats for censoring their peoples in the name of “disinformation” and subjecting them to mass immigration against the wills of their populations. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” Vance declared, referring to Trump.

Perhaps the change in the political winds had not registered with Zelenskyy when he opened his mouth to insult Trump. In any case, Trump is making it clear that he intends to pursue America’s national interest, and this means treating a nuclearized Russia as a partner and distancing our nation from a weak, deluded liberal Europe that is hostile toward its own inhabitants.

Trump’s treatment of Zelenskyy has scandalized the defenders of the old order, including many Republicans and Fox News mouthpieces, who are apparently surprised to see an American president act like the most powerful man on earth instead of a meek vassal.

In reality, it is Zelenskyy who is the puppet. Trump is merely giving him his due. The war in Ukraine cannot continue without support from the United States and its president, who is clearly inclined to end the killing as soon as possible regardless of what Zelenskyy and his puppet-masters want. 

Zelenskyy seems not to understand basic power dynamics, or perhaps three years of constant praise from the world’s would-be elite has gone to his head. Indeed, Western journalists and politicians have compared Zelenskyy to a contemporary Winston Churchill who is defending “democracy” against an aggressive and authoritarian Russia. Until recently, Zelenskyy was comfortable hectoring the United States for support, and he was rewarded with billions in support from a weak and compromised Joe Biden.

The media coverage of Trump’s frontal attack on Ukraine has been predictably reactive and shallow. The president may be incorrect to gauge Zelenskyy’s support at 4 percent, but it isn’t really possible to know if Zelenskyy has public backing unless he faces re-election, which he has not done since Ukraine has been living under martial law for three years. Russia has stipulated that another round of elections must occur as part of the peace process, presumably in the expectation of replacing Zelenskyy with a pro-Russian leader. Nevertheless, it does not make one a “Putin apologist” to observe that Ukraine is a democracy in name only.

Trump has also been charged with “falsely” blaming Ukraine for instigating the conflict. It is difficult to imagine what moronic point journalists believe they are making when they challenge Trump on this question. Trump obviously knows that Russia’s armies launched a land invasion three years ago. The purpose of labeling Trump’s claim “false” is to shut off any objective assessment of the war and its deeper causes. Obviously, Trump’s critics are unwilling to concede that Russia has actual strategic interests that are worthy of respect.

Anyone who tries to deal with the real world, as Trump is doing, is said to be helping the Kremlin because reality happens to favor Russia. Ukraine has been shrinking since 2014. Three years of a miserable war, despite nearly unlimited military and financial support from the Biden administration, have failed to reverse Putin’s gains. Trump’s critics are frustrated with Trump for dealing with this set of facts, instead of sharing in their fantasy that Putin will somehow be made to give up territory he has already won.

Trump is not an ideologue, and he clearly does not share the messianic belief in Zelenskyy or Ukrainian “democracy” that seems to animate so many Western politicians and journalists. For liberals, the year is perpetually 1939, and Trump’s embrace of Russia is a disastrous concession to global tyranny. Trump’s critics are still lost in the past, while Trump is forging ahead into the future.