There are times in history when change doesn’t happen gradually but crumbles right before the eyes of those who fail to grasp what is happening. These are the days that don’t just alter political currents but reshape how a nation is perceived – its values and its role in the world.
Yesterday was one of those days in the White House.
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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and his Vice President, J.D. Vance, did not just refuse to support Ukraine. They seized the moment to tell Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, that he was not grateful enough; that the US was no longer his ally; and that Ukraine should no longer count on the US in its fight against Russian aggression.
This wasn’t just an awkward diplomatic encounter – it was a dark symbol of a fundamental shift within the US itself. The leader of the country that has been at the forefront of the free world for decades sat in the Oval Office and humiliated the leader of a nation fighting for survival while his vice president smirked and demeaned the man bearing the weight of one of the most consequential battles of our time.
The tone was not one of strategic disagreement. It was a tone of contempt.
“We don’t owe you support.”
“You’re not grateful enough.”
“We won’t be part of your war.”
The words sound familiar, but not from American history. They echo some other times, from other places in the world.
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It was a moment when the US betrayed itself. Not only did it withdraw from one of the most critical global struggles for freedom in modern history, but it did so in a way that was degrading and morally bankrupt.
The Trump administration didn’t just shut the door on Kyiv – it did so with a sneer, with the insinuation that Ukraine should submit, and with the message that the US no longer values alliances but only obedience and servitude.
What would past US presidents have said?
If past US presidents had witnessed yesterday’s events, we might consider their reactions.
Woodrow Wilson, who led America into World War I to make the world “safe for democracy,” would have been appalled.
“Have we weakened our resolve so much that we now sit idly by as autocracy crushes its neighbors – and we speak only of gratitude? Have we abandoned our ideals so thoroughly that we no longer care about a nation fighting for its freedom? We once declared it America’s duty to protect smaller nations from brutal empires. If we have now changed our minds, then we have not only abandoned Ukraine, we have abandoned the America we once knew. Have you forgotten why we stood against empires?”
Harry Truman, the architect of the doctrine that guided US foreign policy for decades, would have been stunned by yesterday’s spectacle.
“In my time, we understood the meaning of friendship among nations. We didn’t demand gratitude – we did what was right. We stood with Western Europe not because they thanked us, but because the fight was one of good versus evil. If this America is willing to leave friends in the trenches simply because they aren’t ‘humble’ enough, then I have to ask – what happened to the values we fought for during the Cold War? This is not the America I left behind!”
John F. Kennedy, who famously declared “Ich bin ein Berliner” at the height of the Cold War, would have had no patience for what took place in the Oval Office yesterday.
“I fought against the Soviet Union, watched as tyranny tightened its iron grip around Europe. Had we turned our backs on Berlin then, there would be no free Europe today. And now you want to turn your back on Kyiv? If America no longer cares about the fate of democratic nations fighting against dictatorship, then America is no longer America.”
Richard Nixon, the master of realpolitik, understood how the world worked, but he also knew the line between interest and betrayal.
“When I traveled to Moscow in 1972 to negotiate with Leonid Brezhnev, I knew that sometimes you have to talk to your adversaries. But I never forgot who the adversary was. There is no wisdom in humiliating an ally while opening the door to an enemy. This is no longer a policy of strength – It is a policy of weakness.”
Ronald Reagan, who called the Soviet Union “the empire of evil” and tirelessly worked to undermine it, would have been horrified by what he saw in the White House yesterday.
“My America didn’t humiliate freedom fighters. My America didn’t beg dictators for friendship. When we saw the people behind the Iron Curtain suffering, we told them: ‘Don’t give up. We stand with you.’ Today, I see the president of the United States telling the leader of a nation under attack, ‘You’re on your own.’ If you are so obsessed with being soft on Moscow that you humiliate allies, I have to wonder – do you hate freedom more than you love Vladimir Putin?”
George H.W. Bush, who oversaw the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, knew that American power was built on trust between allies.
“Our military bases in Europe aren’t just there for tanks. They are there because we gave our word. Yesterday, I watched as the president of the United States told the president of Ukraine that our word no longer matters. If Ukraine can’t count on American help, who can? If America’s word means nothing, what does its power mean?”
Barack Obama, who in 2014 responded to Russia’s annexation of Crimea with severe sanctions, surely wouldn’t have hidden his frustration.
“I have always said that America is imperfect, but in critical moments, it finds a way to do the right thing. Yesterday, in the White House, we saw something else. We saw a president who refuses to see Ukraine as an ally, who speaks of gratitude while Putin sits in the Kremlin and smiles. If this isn’t moral bankruptcy, I don’t know what is.”
Joe Biden, who personally worked to form a coalition to support Ukraine, would have been blunt in his condemnation.
“There’s nothing to politically analyze here. There’s nothing to explain. Yesterday, America turned its back – on camera – on a nation fighting an aggressor. When Putin launched his war against Ukraine, America stood where it has always stood: with those fighting for freedom. That wasn’t a political decision. It was a decision based on what it means to be the leader of the free world. And now? Now, I witness the president of the United States uttering words that could have been written in the Kremlin. Now, I see his vice president mocking the leader of a country struggling to survive. This isn’t just shameful. This is betrayal. And history will remember it.”
Golden thread of US principles
These are not just the likely words of past US presidents – these are the principles upon which America built its global influence. Each of them understood that power does not rest solely on military might or economic strength but on credibility, on the consistency of alliances, and on the clear distinction between friends and foes.
On Friday, in the White House, that credibility collapsed. It wasn’t destroyed by a global power, nor did it fall under enemy pressure – it was dismantled by those who should be defending it.
And while Wilson, Truman, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Obama, and Biden – each in their own way – would condemn this moment of moral decline, the real question isn’t what they would say.
The real question is: What will the democratic world do now that it is clear the US has abandoned the role it once so proudly claimed?
America has always been strongest when it was predictable, when its allies could trust its word, and when its enemies knew there would be consequences for crossing red lines.
Yesterday’s event didn’t just weaken Ukraine. It weakened America. This is because history does not remember words. History remembers actions. And when the history of this era is written, we won’t just remember the bravery of the Ukrainians – we will also remember the moment when the US turned its back on them.
The question now is not whether Ukraine will survive – It will fight, with or without the US. The real question is whether the US will recognize itself in the mirror of its own history or whether it will lose itself permanently in this moment of moral emptiness. Because allies never forget betrayal. And enemies never respect weakness.
Yesterday was a disgrace. But America is not doomed to this disgrace. The only question is who will have the strength and vision to bring it back to the path built by past generations – the path of leadership, alliances, and principles that once made it a beacon of freedom in the world.
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.
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