A wartime leader ambushed by cowards in power
North Brunswick, N.J.: On Friday, I watched what has to be the most disgusting display of ambush I have ever seen on television. Imagine that you have been beaten up by thugs in the street. You go to the home of your best friend for much-needed support and he not only blames you for the beating, but he robs you and kicks you out of his house. This is what happened to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
For the representative of our country, the man called the leader of the free world, to treat Zelenskyy like he was a dog who peed on the carpet was a complete disgrace. And JD Vance was the bully wannabe without a shred of decency or intelligence.
I am embarrassed. I feel so incredibly sad for Ukraine. My grandfather was born and raised in Odessa, having lived through and escaped the Russian Revolution. Thank God he’s not here to witness this incredibly despicable behavior from the Oval Office.
This ambush was planned. President Trump has had it out for Zelenskyy since he refused to give in to Trump’s extortion. Zelenskyy was the only real man in the room on Friday, being taunted by two small boys who wouldn’t know how to make a deal if they had Monty Hall to help them. Bless you, President Zelenskyy. You are a hero and a warrior, and you did not deserve this treatment.
It’s only been 40 days. God help us. Louise Reeves
A few cards short
Brooklyn: I am so embarrassed with our president’s conduct Friday in his meeting with Zelenskyy. Like a Mafia don, he threatened Zelenskyy, saying he holds all the cards. Funny coming from a man operating without a full deck. Greg Ahl
Dirty dealer
Beechhurst: Re “Trump’s Oval Office tantrum” (editorial, March 1): As that drawn-out and all-too-transparent meeting devolved into a diplomatic disaster, Trump kept flashing his Zelenskyy “has no cards” hand. But sadly, one has to wonder if Czar Putin has an American ace up his sleeve. James Hyland
Capitulation
Brooklyn: I am wondering what would have happened if Winston Churchill had capitulated to Hitler after he had all of Europe at his feet. What if Churchill had done so instead of stating that Britain would fight on land, sea and sky and never surrender? Would the U.S. still be here? Hitler had plans for the U.S. And did we demand a quid pro quo for all the equipment we sent to Russia, or payment for all the pilots’ and sailors’ lives we lost ferrying that equipment to Murmansk? Are we going to be able to live this day down? Do we still have allies that trust us? Shirley Forde
Petulant executives
Bronx: On Friday, I saw a world leader verbally attacked and humiliated by two other supposed world leaders in front of television crews broadcasting to the world. I saw and heard Trump and Vance berate Zelenskyy. They didn’t speak to him, they yelled and scolded him as if he were a child. Trump accused him of disrespect, but the disrespect was shown by Trump and Vance. They seem to think everyone needs to kiss their feet and rear ends. They only showed how small they actually are. They were a disgrace and showed just how classless and ignorant they are. This administration has no business being in the White House or on the world stage. They know nothing about how to treat people. They are uncouth Neanderthals and despicable. Trump and Vance are bullies in public but probably mess their pants in private. Anna Maria McCorry
Shameful display
Manhattan: How dare Trump and Vance treat another head of state the way they did. I have never been as ashamed of and embarrassed for our country as I am right now. Minette Gorelik
Isolation implications
Bronx: After the debacle in the White House, it is evident that Putin may soon be going there to pick up his keys. I often wonder what Putin is holding over Trump’s head. Congressional leaders constantly refer to what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote the Constitution, but they did not want a king or dictator. How times have changed. A Russian state media reporter was present Friday in the Oval Office but the AP was not allowed. What have we come to?! Now our former allies have coalesced around each other and are aware that they can no longer count on us for support. All I can say is that I hope we don’t have another Sept. 11 debacle. In 2001, the world came to help. I have a feeling we’ll be on our own this time. Claudette Mobley
Russia’s guy
Manhattan: Nikita Khrushchev said about the West, “We will bury you.” Trump started his public life as an American. After his casinos went bankrupt, his finances were revived largely because Russian billionaires bought into his apartment properties. He became a Russian sympathizer. Russia tried to help his 2016 campaign. There was no collusion with Trump, and unjust accusations tilted him even more toward Russia. In the last eight years, Trump has crossed the line between a Russian sympathizer and a Russian stooge. He voted with Russia on a UN resolution condemning its invasion of Ukraine. He then encouraged JD Vance to interrupt a White House treaty-signing ceremony by browbeating Zelenskyy and then blaming him for his reaction (and for starting the war). Perhaps Khrushchev was right and we’re already buried. But after Comrade Trump hands Ukraine to his Russian boss, there may be time before he hands over the rest of Eastern Europe or even the U.S. John Stout
Can’t stop, won’t stop
Ormond Beach, Fla.: Joe Biden’s inept and corrupt administration created the Zelenskyy we saw Friday in the White House, along with the progressive left and their flaunting the Ukrainian flag on their social media accounts the way they did their masks and COVID shots during that fiasco. Trump and the American people are not going to stand for this left-wing unhinged mania anymore. From now on, it’s common sense, decency and America first, and no longer cult fear-mongering and politicizing every problem like it is a horrible, world-shattering crisis. They can kick and scream, have their heads explode, call for criminal violence in our streets and weaponize their leftist, activist judges, but none of it will stop this train toward a better America and a better, safer world. Charles Michael Sitero
Life-sustaining
Bronx: Why does Trump have no regard for the starving people who depend on USAID for food and survival? It’s not like we are sending porterhouse steaks and the fixings. These starving people are receiving a nutritional paste that helps keep them alive. I understand that he wants to cut financial waste and most Americans approve of this, but we need to be more thoughtful of where these cuts are being implemented. For every person in Nigeria or Ethiopia who dies from malnutrition when we can help prevent it, we are responsible. For every child who dies from starvation because we prioritize money over life, Trump should be held accountable — him and his buddy Elon Musk. David Gonzalez
Dispossessed’s dissent
Manhattan: To Voicer Richard Sherman: “Arab rejectionism” is not the “only obstruction to Palestinian self-determination.” The double-dealing of the Western powers after World War I is. The Arabs were misled by the U.K.’s promise of Palestinian autonomy if they helped the Brits defeat the Ottomans. Instead, a deal was cut to create a “homeland” (with ambiguous meanings) for the Jewish people, 100,000 of whom had fought for the Kaiser. Palestinian Arabs realized the fix was in when the Balfour Declaration referred to them (90% of the population of the territory) only as the “existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” The Palestinian Arab rejection of independent statehood did not renounce the principle, only the fragmented territory, almost all of which had been Arab-inhabited. The issue Sherman and like-minded commenters might want to address is the implication of first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s admission that the Zionists “have come and… have stolen their country.” Michele P. Brown
