On Wednesday night’s edition of The Source with Kaitlan Collins, The New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman dissected President Trump’s scorn for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—and the GOP’s characteristic “gaze aversion” when it comes to criticizing his position.
In recent days, Trump and Zelensky have traded pointed barbs— which Haberman pointed out is far from surprising. (Trump’s skepticism of Ukraine was prominent even during his first presidential campaign almost a decade ago.) Trump has labeled his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator” and sought to paint him as responsible for Russia’s invasion, while Zelensky has said Trump is living in a “disinformation bubble.”
The war of words came after Trump initiated a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss “peace” and orchestrated a closed-door meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart.
This is not to say that the Trump administration has ceased its dealings with Ukraine and its president entirely. Zelensky spoke to Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, on Wednesday about the president’s comments. Zelensky said he appreciated both Graham’s “constructive” help and broader, bipartisan support for Ukraine, Axios reported.
Haberman also highlighted Trump’s tendencies as a leader, both in terms of his “mercantilistic approach”—wherein he fears the U.S. is being “ripped off” by other countries, even if they are allies—and his admiration for strongmen like Putin.
Calling out Vice President JD Vance’s recent comments that Trump’s decisions are primarily “policy” based, Haberman continued: “In the last day, Trump is saying that Zelensky better move fast, which sounds like better move fast to accept the deal Trump wants, or he’s going to get run over. That’s more than a policy switch,” she noted.
It’s causing a similar “switch” in the perspective of many leading Republicans, who Haberman noted have “been pretty hawkish on Russia before, and who (have) supported Ukraine, at least to some extent.”
Now though, they’re employing the tried-and-tested “gaze aversion” strategy: When asked how they feel about Trump’s comments, Haberman said, “they usually deflect to “‘No, I don’t agree with that word,’ or, ‘I wouldn’t say that.’”
“Trump knows that he can essentially do what he wants right now,” she added.
“I don’t know what the context is to calling him a dictator,” Collins noted.
