Zelenskyy’s Mr. Nothing performance: A lesson in political realism

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are engaging in a shouting match in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2025. AFP

• Zelenskyy’s White House meeting with Trump ended poorly, forcing him to later write an apologetic note accepting Trump’s demands for peace negotiations
• Zelenskyy who campaigned on the anti-corruption campaign and became President of Ukraine, has himself faced corruption charges
• Both President’s Trump and Zelenskyy were entertainers before they came to office

What is common between United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy? Both are entertainers. Trump was the protagonist in the popular ‘The Apprentice’ television reality show that ran from 2004 to 2017. Zelenskyy played the main role of a high school history teacher in the widely acclaimed television series “Servant of the People”, which was aired from 2015 to 2019, the year in which Zelenskyy, the comedian, became the President of Ukraine.
In The Apprentice, tycoon Trump hires and fires recruits based on their performance in his business empire. In Servant of the People, Zelenskyy, the teacher, unexpectedly becomes the president of Ukraine after he expresses in a viral video clip his anger against widespread corruption in Ukraine. Soon, in a reel-to-reality shift, Zelenskyy became the president of his country in a landslide victory. But soon, the very actor who made the fight against corruption his platform to become the president himself faced corruption charges. The Pandora Papers exposed his offshore wealth accumulation.
Yet, with his acting skills and PR stunts, Zelenskyy skillfully navigated the corruption allegations while he took his country on a dangerous path to war with Russia, a nuclear power neighbour. For him and the Ukrainian oligarchs who backed him, war is a big business.
Last Friday, during his meeting with Trump, arguably the most powerful president in the world, Zelenskyy proved himself to be a political dimwit. In the Oval Office shouting match, Zelenskyy’s conduct was like a puppet abandoned by his puppet masters.
For the role of a puppet, no one suits better than Zelenskyy. He was a puppet in the hands of the Ukrainian oligarchs and media moguls who puffed him up to be the president. He was a puppet chosen by the likes of Victoria Nuland, Washington’s regime change czar. He was a puppet of the West and danced to its tune.
The war with Russia would not have happened if only Zelenskyy had acted in the sole interest of his country with prudence. He swallowed the West’s bait—hook, line and sinker. Respecting the security concerns of a powerful neighbour—Russia—is international politics 101. The puppet trusted the puppeteers, little realising that the puppeteers would be the first to abandon the puppet and run at the first sign of a fire in the theatre.
Zelenskyy’s political immaturity was in stark contrast to the calm composure King Abdullah displayed in the same Oval Office room weeks before, though he too was in a similarly difficult situation after Trump thrust upon Jordan and Egypt an outrageous ethnic cleansing plan for the Gaza Strip.
The Zelenskyy-Trump meeting was not a meeting between equal partners. In international relations, a meeting between two lions—similar to the Cold War-era détente talks between the US and the Soviet Union—is one thing, but a meeting between a roaring lion and a vacuous cat is entirely another.
The humiliation Zelenskyy suffered in the White House should remind political history students of an event that took place five centuries ago. Florence was an Italian city-state depending on foreign armies to defend its borders—like Zelenskyy’s Ukraine depended on Western military support to defend itself. Like Zelenskyy’s Ukraine, Florence had the reckless bravado to complain to France—which was a superpower then—that Florence’s onslaught on Pisa ended in failure because of the indiscipline of the French troops. The emissary who visited the court of Louis XII was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who later became a celebrated political philosopher. The French derided him and called his city-state Ser Nihilo or Mr. Nothing. Machiavelli learnt a lesson on political power and the importance of self-reliance in military strength. This was one of the incidents that inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince. Poor Zelenskyy is apparently a slow learner of political realism. He had not done his homework to familiarise himself with Trump’s idiosyncrasies.
Days after his Mr. Nothing performance that fell flat before the arrogant US president, and following his not-so-fruitful meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders who hesitated to put boots on the ground without US involvement, Zelenskyy wrote an apologetic note to Trump. He acceded to every demand made by the US president. Zelenskyy also posted the note’s content on his X account. It said he was ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” to achieve a lasting peace.
If only the wisdom had dawned prior to his White House meeting, it could have saved him from humiliation in front of the world media.
A triumphant Trump read out part of the letter when he addressed Congress on Tuesday. He said, “The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.”
In Zelenskyy’s X post, there was more flattery fitted for a narcissistic leader. “We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
But not to be swayed by the flattery, the Trump administration on Wednesday stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, sending a strong message that Zelenskyy should first walk the talk. In Trump’s politics, there is no altruism. There are only business deals. He wants Ukraine’s strategic minerals, the bulk of them, to make America great again and Ukraine poorer and weaker.
Dealing with Trump is like a knife-edge walk. It requires psychoanalytical skills. During the less than two months in office, Trump has given the world more than it can bear. He let his allies know that they count for nothing if they do not obey his commands. He is upping the ante in the trade war he initiated with both trusted Canada and rival China. He is telling the people of Greenland that if they do not agree to be part of the United States, he will ‘one way or another’ get it. He renewed his vow on Tuesday to reclaim the Panama Canal. He issued a genocidal warning to Hamas this week that if it did not extend the first phase of the ceasefire as he demanded, then be prepared to face all hell breaking loose on the Palestinians and they will all be dead.
Zelenskyy’s ignorance of political realism and Trump’s political shocks apart, the world needs peace. However, the peace Trump is trying to force on Ukraine is the peace of the graveyard. Russia could not be happier.