SINGAPORE: It was ”great television”, seemingly straight out of an episode of The Apprentice reality series starring Donald Trump the businessman. Except this time the contestant was a sitting president, and what was at stake was his country which has been fending off an all-out Russian invasion for the last three years.
The buildup to the meeting between Donald Trump the United States president and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (Feb 28) had been billed as an opportunity to stabilise relations after a difficult first six weeks under Trump 2.0. But not too long after the meeting started, it careened off the rails in a way that sends an unmistakable signal.
Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance excoriated Mr Zelenskyy, accusing him of ingratitude and disrespect towards America and the Oval Office. The Ukrainian responded by digging in.
Even if the US leaders were well within their right to express reservations about Kyiv’s approach to peace with Moscow, the grandstanding and humiliation was unnecessary and rarely performed so publicly and directly.
Whether or not the tag-team on Mr Zelenskyy was scripted, we do not yet know. But if ever there was a diplomatic meeting that was conducted for domestic consumption, this would be it.
Much work will need to be done to salvage the US-Ukraine relationship after this debacle: And truth be told, the ball is in Mr Zelenskyy’s court.
Principle and values are not exactly lodestars for Mr Trump in his conduct of business. For him, the currency of international affairs is, well, “currency”. What he wants - and what Mr Zelenskyy has to offer - is, firstly, critical minerals, and second, payment for weapons Ukraine wants (and needs).
In that sense, Mr Trump is not entirely correct to say that Mr Zelenskyy doesn’t have any cards. But it is true that he doesn’t have a strong hand.
Indeed, having left the White House empty-handed, Mr Zelenskyy may have to set aside wounded pride and come back with a better offer to secure the support he needs to hold the line against Russia.
Someone will have to pay America for the military supplies. And this is where Mr Trump will look to put pressure on Europe.
European leaders will doubtless be deeply disturbed: Hopes of US commitment inspired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visits to the White House just days ago have unravelled. Declarations of support for Ukraine have come thick and fast, but the real question is whether this will be backed by a greater measure of material support. That, ultimately, is where the rubber meets the road.
Further afield, friends and allies in the Indo-Pacific must surely be on notice now. It is a different US, with a different understanding of and approach to “commitments” made by Mr Trump’s predecessors. While it does not necessarily mean that the US will be walking back on these commitments, it does suggest that Washington will now approach them very differently.
The sooner these friends and allies adjust to this new reality, the less painful it will be for them (at least in terms of not having misplaced expectations).
Finally, how about the adversaries of the US? To be sure, some would have watched what unfolded with great amusement, perhaps even glee. But the thing about unpredictability is that it cuts both ways. Trumpian winds of change may seemingly be blowing one direction now, away from hitherto “ironclad commitments” made to allies, but they could just as well blow back in that direction if the stars align for the US president.
The Trump-Zelenskyy spat reinforced what we already know, but it still comes with a jolt: There is a new tone to American diplomacy – perhaps even a new nature to it – and this will likely be with us for some time yet.
And it should put to rest any doubt that the Vance campaign for the 2028 presidential elections has already begun.
Joseph Chinyong Liow is Dean of College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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