Analysis by Philip Bump: The long intertwining of the Russia-Ukraine conflict with Trumpian politics
Again, Trump’s predilection for Russia as president is well-documented. He sided with Putin repeatedly on the question of 2016 interference, finding it personally more useful to shrug at what Russia did than to elevate questions about how he won. He lashed out against intelligence agencies and the FBI’s probe of Russian interference and complained constantly about America’s allies.
Trump saw Zelensky as useful for other reasons, however. He was already looking ahead to his 2020 reelection bid and understood that Joe Biden was most likely going to be his opponent. Trump seized on a false allegation that the U.S. pressure to oust Shokin — delivered by Biden as vice president — stemmed from a promise by Shokin to investigate an energy company for which Biden’s son Hunter served as a board member.
Zelensky hoped for a White House meeting send a message to Russia that the United States was unquestionably allied with Ukraine; Trump and his team delayed it indefinitely as they sought the announcement of the Biden probe. It was only once the government’s failure to provide the assistance drew public attention that aid was actually released — and that attention led to Trump’s eventual impeachment for leveraging his position to try toto aid his 2020 campaign.
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