“As Mr. Trump admonished President Volodymyr Zelensky and warned him that ‘you don’t have the cards’ to deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and as Vice President JD Vance dressed down the Ukrainian leader as being ‘disrespectful’ and ungrateful, it was clear that the three-year wartime partnership between Washington and Kyiv was shattered,” according to The New York Times.

“But the larger truth is that the venomous exchanges — broadcast not only to an astounded audience of Americans and Europeans who had never seen such open attacks on each other, but to Mr. Putin and his Kremlin aides — made evident that Mr. Trump regards Ukraine as an obstacle to what he sees as a far more vital project.”

David E. Sanger emphasizes that “What Mr. Trump really wants, one senior European official said this week before the blowup, is a normalization of the relationship with Russia. If that means rewriting the history of Moscow’s illegal invasion three years ago, dropping investigations of Russian war crimes or refusing to offer Ukraine long-lasting security guarantees, then Mr. Trump, in this assessment of his intentions, is willing to make that deal. …”

Sanger assesses President Trump’s radical changes in the direction of U.S. foreign policy: “Mr. Trump makes no secret of his view that the post-World War II system, created by Washington, ate away at American power.”

“Above all else, that system prized relationships with allies committed to democratic capitalism, even maintaining those alliances that came with a cost to American consumers. It was a system that sought to avoid power grabs by making the observance of international law, and respect for established international boundaries, a goal unto itself.”

“To Mr. Trump, such a system gave smaller and less powerful countries leverage over the United States, leaving Americans to pick up far too much of the tab for defending allies and promoting their prosperity.”

Many news analysts have been debating whether the blowup in the Oval Office was spontaneous, partially prepared, or completely orchestrated by Trump and Vance.

Tom Nichols, Professor Emeritus of National-Security Affairs (U.S. Naval War College), argues that: “All of the ghastliness inflicted on Zelensky today should not obscure the geopolitical reality of what just happened: The president of the United States ambushed a loyal ally, presumably so that he can soon make a deal with the dictator of Russia to sell out a European nation fighting for its very existence.”

Nichols concludes that “today’s meeting and America’s shameful vote in the United Nations on Monday confirmed that the United States is now aligned with Russia and against Ukraine, Europe, and most of the planet. I felt physically sick watching the president of the United States yell at a brave ally, fulminating in the Oval Office as if he were an addled old man shaking his fist at a television. Zelensky has endured tragedies, and risked his life, in ways that men such as Trump and Vance cannot imagine. (Vance served as a public-relations officer in the most powerful military in the world; he has never had to huddle in a bunker during a Russian bombardment.) I am ashamed for my nation; even if Congress acts to support and aid Ukraine, it cannot restore the American honor lost today.”

In the aftermath of the press conference, President Trump has complained that Zelensky should have been more deferential to him, saying “I just think he should be more appreciative.”

President Trump indeed seems to have planned the ambush in the Oval Office precisely in order to prepare a complete abandonment of Ukraine and a realignment with Putin’s Russia.

And, Trump has now completely suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Green, Erica L., Eric Schmitt, David E. Sanger, and Julian E. Barnes. “Trump Suspends Military Aid to Ukraine After Oval Office Blowup.” The New York Times (3 March 2025).

Nichols, Tom. “It Was an Ambush.” The Atlantic (28 February 2025).

Sanger, David E. “Behind the Collision: Trump Jettisons Ukraine on His Way to a Larger Goal.” The New York Times (28 February 2025).

For international coverage, see:

“Donald Trump gèle brutalement l’aide militaire à l’Ukraine pour soumettre Volodymyr Zelensky à sa volonté.” Le Monde (3 March 2025).

Starcevic, Sev. “Trump and Zelenskyy’s White House clash a ‘deliberate escalation’ by US, says Germany’s Merz.” Politico.eu (3 March 2025).

“Trump Halts Military Aid to Ukraine.” Politico.eu (3 March 2025).