“You don’t have the cards!” –Donald Trump to Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The President of the United States repeated that phrase several times, as Trump and Vance — like a tag team in the ring with a single opponent — took turns berating the Ukrainian president. Trump, who clearly has the power to turn the tables on Ukraine, has sided with Putin. The United States and Russia are now partners. With the emphatic, “You don’t have the cards!” Trump is rubbing it in, underscoring that Ukraine is powerless to change the course that the president has set for the U.S.

The president stepped in, after JD Vance chastised Zelenskyy for “trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong.” And Trump got this right: “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on.” Yes, and for the world. Here’s how the U.K reacted:

NEW: The first front pages of Saturday’s newspapers in the UK.“Ukraine Hero Ambushed”“Trump stuns world with vile rant at Zelensky”“A spectacle to horrify the world”Trump is obliterating the global reputation of the US.

— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) 2025-02-28T22:23:31.404Z

Other European allies will respond the same way. As will longtime American allies across the globe.

Most Americans can be expected to respond as our allies will. Except, now that the change is clear, soon enough folks in the Republican Party will switch to Putin’s side as well. Republicans, no matter what came before or what principles they once embraced, inevitably play the parts that Trump assigns. The U.S. is on Putin’s side now.

March 7, 2025 postscript:

A conservative French news magazine brightening up the Paris news stands … hard to overstate the damage Trump is doing to his and USA’s reputation among allies (sic)

— Alastair Campbell (@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social) 2025-03-07T16:22:55.917Z