Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the former US President, has declared that the United States may cease its support for Ukraine's war effort against Russia. He made the speculative remarks during a tirade against Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the European Union at a conference in the Middle East.
A Scathing Critique of Ukrainian Leadership
In a lengthy address, Trump Jr launched a fierce attack on the purpose of continued fighting. He claimed Ukraine's "corrupt" wealthy elite had fled the country, leaving "what they believed to be the peasant class" to fight the war. He provided no evidence for this assertion.
He further argued that President Zelenskyy was deliberately prolonging the conflict because he knew he would never win an election if peace were declared. Trump Jr described Zelenskyy as a "borderline deity on the left," while controversially stating that Ukraine was "far more corrupt than Russia."
Attacks on EU Strategy and Domestic Priorities
The prominent MAGA figure also turned his fire on the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. He claimed European sanctions on Russia were ineffective, as they had simply driven up global oil prices, thereby filling Moscow's war coffers. He dismissed the European plan as essentially being: "we are going to wait for Russia to go bankrupt – that is not a plan."
Shifting to US domestic concerns, Trump Jr stated that during his 2022 election campaign canvassing, he encountered only three voters who considered the Ukraine war a top-ten issue. He positioned the risk of Venezuelan boats smuggling the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the US as a "far more clear and present danger" than events in Eastern Europe.
Unverified Claims and the 'Peasant Class'
Trump Jr made a series of anecdotal and unverified claims to support his arguments. He alleged that during a single day in Monaco this summer, 50% of the supercars, such as Bugattis and Ferraris, bore Ukrainian number plates. "Do you think that was earned in Ukraine?" he asked rhetorically.
"The rich fled and they left what they believed to be the peasant class to fight these wars," he continued. "There was no incentive to stop because as long as the money train was coming and they were stealing, no one was auditing anything so there was no reason to come to peace."
Implications for a Potential Second Trump Term
Although he holds no formal role in his father's political operation, Donald Trump Jr is a key figure within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. His intervention highlights the significant antipathy towards the Ukrainian government among some Trump allies. It comes as Trump's negotiating team is reportedly pressuring Kyiv to cede territory to Russia as part of a potential peace deal.
When questioned on whether his father—who campaigned on a promise to swiftly end the war—might simply walk away from Ukraine, Trump Jr said "maybe." He explained that Donald Trump is "one of the most unpredictable people in politics." He vowed that under a future Trump administration, the US would no longer be "the idiot with the chequebook" for foreign conflicts.
