Trump escalates rhetoric against Zelensky, jeopardizes diplomacy

Trump criticized Zelensky for refusing to hand over part of Ukraine’s natural resources to the USA, which he had previously valued at $500 billion. “We had a deal based on rare earth metals and other things, but Ukraine broke it,” Trump said during a speech in Miami at the Future Investment Initiative event organized by Saudi Arabia.

President Zelensky declared that he “cannot sell Ukraine” and would not sign any documents negotiated without Ukraine's involvement.

Trump also repeated false information that the USA spent $350 billion on aid to Ukraine, which is $200 billion more than in reality. The former U.S. President also threatened Zelensky, suggesting he might lose all of Ukraine. Additionally, he accused the Ukrainian leader of being a dictator and claimed that Ukraine started the war. Trump once again stated that Russia wanted to end the war and suggested that Kyiv and Zelensky were obstructing peace.

“A dictator without elections, Zelensky better act fast, or he won’t have a country,” Trump wrote on social media.

According to retired Colonel Maciej Matysiak, for some reason, Trump began using terms typical of Russian propaganda and disinformation in his speeches and statements.

“We don’t know the reasons. Whether it's Trump's discussions with Putin, whether he truly holds these beliefs, or something entirely different, we don’t know. We only see the result, which is disastrous. It puts the entire quasi-negotiation process in a disastrous position,” Matysiak, former deputy head of SKW and expert for the Stratpoints Foundation, told WP.

In his opinion, Trump has effectively aligned with Putin, bringing him back from obscurity.

“It's also possible that he is acting like an offended businessman and developer due to the lack of a deal on resource deposits. There might also be grudges from his first presidency and Zelensky’s reluctance to implicate Joe Biden’s son. Trump is a politician who holds grudges. I emphasize again—we don’t know. We see the effect. I hope these extreme hypotheses aren’t accurate because they reflect even worse on Trump and the increasingly tense situation,” Matysiak assesses.

Similar sentiments are expressed by Mariusz Marszałkowski, an expert at the Defence24.pl portal.

“Trump expects a quick fulfillment of his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine. It was supposed to be 24 hours, then 100 days, and later six months. The ticking clock is already affecting his behaviour,” Marszałkowski comments.

As he notes, the American President must also present an economic success.

“A success in contrast to Biden, who—according to Trump—funded a war that cannot be won. Now, the U.S. President declares he'll recover that money. However, he is quoting unrealistic amounts. The $500 billion he mentions in the context of rare earth resources is an amount Americans did not give to Ukraine,” the Defence24.pl expert reminds us.

As he calculates, summing up all support packages, both military and civilian, that the USA has given to Kyiv, this amounts to $130-170 billion.

“A large part of this amount hasn't yet been 'consumed' by Ukraine. The $30 billion is just being implemented under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which is supposed to be contracted in the industry. Some of the contracts have completion deadlines in 2026,” Marszałkowski tells WP.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Andrzej Domański commented on the amount of aid. “President Trump must have been misled regarding European support for Ukraine,” Domański stated on the platform X. “Let me explain: European support for Ukraine is greater than American support and will continue to grow. Europe has allocated 134 billion euros for this purpose, while our American friends - 114 billion euros,” the Polish finance minister wrote.

According to retired Colonel Maciej Matysiak, saying that the USA spent $200 billion more than Europe on aid to Ukraine is misleading and disinformation.

"In my opinion, Elon Musk plays the role of a messenger here, tasked in the White House with seeking financial savings in American administrative spending. Meanwhile, there's a certain fascination visible in Trump's governance in a dictatorial style. Inspirations from Putin or the Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom Trump once smiled and patted on the back, calling him 'my friend Kim,' don't mean Trump is a dictator. But his style of governance, lacking any restraints or safeguards, is closer to him, evaluates the former deputy head of the Military Counterintelligence Service.

According to Matysiak, there's a key takeaway here.

"Europe must think for itself. It must take actions to secure the sovereignty of the Ukrainian nation and ensure that Ukraine can negotiate from a position of strength. This does not mean severing relations with the United States, as they remain a strategic partner for Europe,” emphasizes the former military officer.

And Mariusz Marszałkowski, an expert at Defence24.pl, points out another aspect.

“What Trump is doing now regarding Ukraine could obviously be a form of negotiation with Putin. He may want to win over Russia, end the war in Ukraine, and pull the Kremlin away from China. And that’s why he treats Ukraine as a so-called junior partner who has to agree to everything,” he assesses.

As he adds, the American President first tried this approach “with white gloves” by signing, among other things, an agreement on rare earth metals.

“That didn’t work. Trump then moved to aggressively and publicly deprecate Zelensky. The rhetoric of the American leader is not so dangerous because it can change at any moment. What might be more dangerous is the suspension of American aid to Ukraine. And seeing what Trump is doing, anything is possible,” summarizes the Defence24.pl expert.

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