Robert Reich: Trump doesn't want Americans to view Zelensky as a hero.
For more than three years, President Zelensky has courageously and nobly contained Putin’s aggression. Zelensky has maintained the morale of the people of Ukraine while diligently soliciting and getting help from Europe and the United States. He has waged a war that few assumed he could win, but he has not flinched.
Zelensky deserves our heartfelt thanks rather than the cruel rebuke delivered today by Trump and Vance.
Why did they hammer him? Because they don’t want Americans to view Zelensky as a hero. That view will complicate Trump’s plan to surrender Ukraine to Putin. Trump is ready to give Putin everything he wants. And then carve up the world.
Make no mistake: Putin’s aggression will not end with Ukraine. By giving in to Putin, Trump is inviting him to invade Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland — and then the rest of Eastern Europe that used to be under Soviet and Russian control.
Trump wants Canada, Greenland, Panama, and much else.
That Oval Office meeting was a stage show. It will be remembered by future historians (to the extent they have access to the truth) as a prelude to conquest. Trump believes only in power — which in his mind means complete and utter control. Putin does, too. The two dictators deserve each other.
The rest of us must make it clear — to our fellow Americans, as to the remainder of the free world — that we believe in democracy, that we appreciate Zelensky’s courage and tenacity, and that Trump and Vance do not speak for us.
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