Is Trump's desertion of Ukraine betrayal, stupidity or avarice?

National Post, 18 October 2026

In answer to that question posed this week, it is no comfort that it is only two out of three

Albertans of sufficient age recall the bumper stickers we saw at the height of the National Energy Program in the early 1980s: “Let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark.”

That was what it meant “to send a message” then, not staging a foolish referendum. The bumper sticker slogan was born of frustration and anger, but it was never an actual policy. Albertans were disgruntled but not disgusting; they did not seek to inflict suffering on others, easterners or otherwise.

The time for disgusting policy has come, though, and in a most distressing place. From the most powerful country on Earth, from the ostensible leader of the free world: Let the Ukrainian patriots freeze in the dark.

That, in essence, is what the garrulous President Donald Trump means when he chastises the Ukrainians for bombing Russian oil refineries — including expressing a desire that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy be replaced — while blithely ignoring that Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to bomb the Ukrainian electrical grid, to say nothing of the direct killing of civilians unrelated to military targets.

That Trump has been on Putin’s side has been evident for some time, ever since he campaigned on the promise to end Russia’s war on Ukraine “in one day.” There are only two ways to end the war in one day — either Putin puts down his weapons and goes home, or Zelenskyy surrenders. Trump has been clear that he prefers the latter.

Terry Glavin has gone even further in these pages, arguing that Trump may not be on the side of NATO, should Russian escalate its occasional attacks on NATO’s eastern flank.

Since his return to office, Trump has laboured mightily to obtain a surrender from Ukraine for Putin, his kindred spirit, ally and potential grifting partner. He has cut off direct aid, military and otherwise, to Ukraine. He raged at Zelenskyy in the Oval Office; he supplicated Putin in Alaska. With Ukraine still fighting, he is growing desperate. By purchasing diesel fuel from Russia — contrary to American law — and exempting Russia from sanctions, he is effectively funding war crimes against the Ukrainian people.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland suggested an answer this week when addressing the Warsaw Security Forum. Actually, three possible answers.

“Anyone who, through betrayal, stupidity or for money, seeks to weaken Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression is acting directly against their own people, their country’s security and its sovereignty,” Tusk said on Monday.

Tusk was directly addressing the astonishing phenomenon of pro-Russia parties in Poland — remarkably, there are not one, but two of them — but the “anyone” of whom he speaks would certainly include the Trump administration, the Trump special envoys, the Trump family and the Trump commercial interests. All which are the same entity.

Regarding the latest disgusting Trump turn against Kyiv, is it betrayal, stupidity or money?

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