Trump Tries to Humiliate Zelenskyy—And It Will Haunt Him

Trump’s Attempt at Humiliating Zelenskyy Has Changed Everything

I’m still in shock at what we just witnessed. The leader of the free world just humiliated an ally fighting for its survival, siding instead with a dictator he has admired for years. As regular readers know, I don’t think much of Donald Trump. He’s a conman, a grifter, a fascist, and, it appears, a Russian sympathizer—or worse. He’s also perhaps one of the stupidest people ever elected to public office in a democracy, easily manipulated and driven by an egocentric personality that borders on clinical mental illness.

Trump is a bully with a 19th-century view of the world. He sees smaller nations as vassal states and divides the planet into spheres of influence, shared among those he admires as “strong.” He demands unconditional subservience and instant agreement to his every whim. His worldview is simple: the strong take what they want, and to hell with everyone else.

Knowing this, Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shouldn’t have been a surprise. For years, Trump has expressed a bizarre affinity for Vladimir Putin and has sided with Russia against Ukraine since his first disastrous term in office. He telegraphed his intent before even returning to power and put it into practice through shady “peace negotiations” that didn’t even include Ukraine. This was old-world diplomacy at its worst—carve up a weaker nation while it fights for survival, without even inviting it to the table.

Trump sees the world in purely transactional terms, where great powers dictate terms and the weak comply. China can have Asia, Russia can have Europe, and an isolationist America can rule the Western Hemisphere—including Canada. Any smaller country that resists must be crushed. When this mindset combines with American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny, the danger becomes acute.

Thus, Trump’s combative, arrogant, and massively egocentric treatment of Zelenskyy is easily explained. He doesn’t care about Ukraine or its struggle—he wants to do business with Russia. To him, Zelenskyy’s crime was daring to stand up to his “betters.” His fragile ego personalizes every perceived slight, and Ukraine’s refusal to bow was an unforgivable offence.

First, Zelenskyy demanded a role for his country in the U.S.-Russia “peace talks.” Then, he resisted Trump’s gangster-like attempt to extract Ukrainian resources as payment for some fictional debt. Worst of all, he didn’t come to Washington to grovel before America’s wannabe dictator.

That was too much for Trump and his odious gang of sycophants. The upstart had to be punished, pour encourager les autres. If Ukraine gets away with defiance, what might Canada do when faced with annexation? So a confrontation was engineered, much to the delight of MAGA. Zelenskyy was publicly berated and bullied for a litany of purely invented grievances.

But it backfired spectacularly.

Zelenskyy behaved like a statesman, demanding to be treated as an equal. Trump and his toady Vance looked like the bullies they are. The world’s reaction was instant—virtually the entire globe recoiled in horror at America’s behaviour, with governments rushing to reaffirm their support for Ukraine.

It’s difficult to overstate what Trump has done. He’s reinforced his reputation as an unstable, erratic, uninformed gangster. America’s global standing—what was left of it—is in tatters. Western democracies are finally waking up and planning for a world without U.S. leadership, and the process of freezing America out has now begun. A seismic shift in the global order is underway, far sooner than anyone expected.

For Canada, the lesson is clear. Trump considers us part of his sphere of influence and will demand absolute obedience. Any “disrespect” will be punished—economically, politically, or even militarily. To him, Canada is merely a resource storehouse for an isolated America, and we’d better stay in line.

It isn’t a pleasant prospect. I’ve repeatedly called for Canada to begin—urgently—detangling itself from U.S. dependence, to build a sovereign defence capability, and to engage with allies to form new, robust military and economic partnerships.

The alternative? Imagine our prime minister held captive in one of Trump’s kangaroo courts, publicly extorted into submission, and living under a fascist boot heel.

Today, through sheer stoicism and dignity, Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed the world that Trump can be defied. It’s a lesson every democracy—especially Canada—needs to learn. And the time to act is now. If today proved anything, it’s that we can no longer afford to wait.