From the moment Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, European leaders made it a top priority to safeguard NATO’s pledge to remain on Ukraine’s side in its war against Russian aggression. Above all, they sought to prevent Trump from undercutting Kyiv in his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to secure the continuing flow of weaponry—mostly American—to bolster Ukraine against Russia’s all-out military assault.
So far, the efforts have proven largely successful. But there is a dark cloud on the horizon, a potential storm that could dismantle that carefully constructed edifice of support.
The fragility of Western backing for Ukraine became excruciatingly obvious barely a month after Trump returned to power, when he received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House for a meeting that sent shock waves through capitals across Europe. In front of the assembled media, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated and humiliated Zelenskyy on live TV, ultimately throwing him out before a planned luncheon.