Frustrated by his inability to end the Iran war and curb the high domestic fuel prices that are hurting him politically, President Donald Trump is taking it out on Ukraine and its embattled leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He wants Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian energy facilities, though Russia is refusing to halt its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure. In doing ...

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures upon arrival to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kan., on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.

KENT NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Frustrated by his inability to end the Iran war and curb the high domestic fuel prices that are hurting him politically, President Donald Trump is taking it out on Ukraine and its embattled leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He wants Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian energy facilities, though Russia is refusing to halt its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure.

In doing so, Trump has again put the United States on the wrong side of the global struggle between the forces of democracy and its enemies, preferring to strengthen his ties with the man who caused the bloody four-year war – Vladimir Putin.

He is also further damaging U.S. relations with its longtime European allies and his standing with both political parties at home.

First, Trump made a deal enabling Russia to supply the world market with 36 million barrels of diesel fuel. That will do more to bolster the struggling Russian economy than lower world diesel prices.

He acted within weeks of signing a bill strengthening economic sanctions against Russia that was aimed at forcing Putin to negotiate seriously with Zelenskyy to end the Ukraine war.

Then, just days later, Trump scrapped the sanctions with an executive order proclaiming it in the “national interests of the United States” to suspend their enforcement. But doing so is mainly in Russia’s national interest.

Trump’s action was a posthumous insult to the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, after whom the bill was named because of his long fight for its enactment.

It illustrated Trump’s persistent refusal to recognize the war in Ukraine as a proxy battle for the future of Europe in which Ukraine represents its democracies and Russia its enemies.

And it put the U.S. in the disgraceful position of helping the perpetrator of the worst aggression in recent years, while undermining the European democracies that are helping Ukraine resist.

Trump’s moral blindness is hardly surprising, given how he has blurred the lines at home between democracy and totalitarianism with his disdain for institutions like the press and the courts, and his efforts to override the constitutional roles of Congress and the states.

On a more basic level, it reiterates Trump’s personal animus for Zelenskyy since the Ukrainian leader resisted his 2019 demands to dig up dirt on rival Joe Biden – prompting the American president’s withholding of aid that led to his impeachment.

Trump has repeatedly – and falsely – blamed Zelenskyy for starting the war. He has blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries for high U.S. gas and diesel prices, though the real reason is the interruption of Middle East supplies because of his continuing war with Iran.

He has — also falsely — blamed the shortage of some missiles and other weapons in the Middle East on the fact that the United States supplied weapons to Ukraine.

And Trump has repeatedly blamed Zelenskyy’s refusal to accept unfavorable peace terms for his failure to achieve his campaign pledge to settle the four-year-old war though the real reason is Putin’s refusal to halt his aggression until he can defeat Ukraine.

But the aftermath of Trump’s diesel fuel announcement showed that neither side is paying much attention to him. He said both Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in which they would cease their attacks on one another’s energy facilities.

That agreement quickly turned out to be solely a figment of Trump’s imagination. Within hours, Russia unleashed yet another murderous drone attack on Ukrainian energy facilities and its capital of Kyiv. Unsurprisingly, the Ukrainians responded.

And Trump again blamed Zelenskyy. “All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher,” he said in an interview with Newsmax, a frequent theme of his in recent weeks. And he said Zelenskyy should resign.

Meanwhile, in what looked like yet another U.S. effort to pressure Ukraine, the latter’s officials said last week they temporarily lost their access to the Starshield satellite program, which they use to detect and intercept Russian missiles and drones.

Reuters reported the order to suspend Ukraine’s use of Starshield came from the White House. Though the White House denied it, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, which built the system, said any limits on Starshield are “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS (the President of the United States).”

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that the United States has also delayed transferring Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine.

In Brussels, European leaders met with Zelenskyy and again vowed to stand by Ukraine. “This is no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions,” said Antonio Costa, president of the European Council.

In Washington, Trump’s reversal landed with a bipartisan thud, denounced by lawmakers of both parties. “Unconscionable,” said retiring North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. “Lindsey (Graham) would be appalled,” echoed Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, like Tillis, a political victim of Trump’s ire.

And he did something no Republican would have done until recently, posting on social media that, “Congress must investigate Trump’s aid and comfort to Putin.” That might well happen, but only if Democrats win at least one House.

Meanwhile, a new, more ominous threat to Ukraine surfaced with The Wall Street Journal’s disclosure of an alleged Putin proposal for a three-way meeting between himself, Trump and China’s Xi Jinping to settle Ukraine’s fate – without Zelenskyy present.

That would be the ultimate sellout – and a permanent stain on the United States – and its unprincipled president.

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