Since Zelensky’s visit to Washington—and the tense disagreements between the Ukrainian premier, President Trump, and Vice President Vance—we’ve published a number of essays from different points of view. Eli Lake believes it “was one of the most astonishing spectacles in White House history.” In the essay below, Victor Davis Hanson, a top interpreter of geopolitical events and Trump’s approach to them, offers his view—10 reasons why the visit ended without a signed minerals agreement, security guarantees for Ukraine, or a road map toward a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. —Bari
1. Zelensky did not grasp—or deliberately ignored—the bitter truth: Those with whom he feels most affinity (Western globalists, the American left, the Europeans) have little power in 2025 to help him. And those with whom he obviously does not like or seeks to embarrass (cf. his Scranton, Pennsylvania campaign-like visit in September 2024) alone have the power to save him. For his own sake, I hope he is not being “briefed” by the Obama-Clinton-Biden gang to confront Trump.
2. Zelensky acted as if his agenda and ours are identical. So, he kept insisting that he is fighting for us despite our two-ocean distance that he mocked. We do have many shared interests with Ukraine, but not all by any means. Trump wants to “reset” with Russia and triangulate it against China. He seeks to avoid a 1962 DEFCON 2–like crisis over a proxy showdown in proximity to a nuclear rival. And he sincerely wants to end the deadlocked slaughterhouse for everyone’s sake.