President Trump’s skewed foreign policy: Zelenskyy vs. Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump has been dominating the news cycle since the weekend. Among the highlights include leveling tariffs on Canada and Mexico, halting aid to Ukraine and berating and throwing out Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy out of the Oval Office.

Global denunciation soon followed with world leaders coming to Zelenskyy’s defense, as the meme circus went into overdrive, calling out the hypocrisy.

“Remember when Trump was pulling out Netanyahu’s chair for him at the White House?”

“Treat Netanyahu like Zelenskyy”

And so on.

Trump asked Zelenskyy to leave the White House after the ambush, leaving many to wonder why Israel continues to receive blank cheques with the red carpet out for Netanyahu – who has an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant out for him – while Zelenskyy is relegated to the “America First” treatment.

For perspective, while the news cycle was working in overdrive covering this exchange and its fallout, Secretary of State Marco Rubio bypassed Congress to expedite delivery of $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.

The Trump administration, since January 20, has so far approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel.

I suppose that’s one way to drive the national deficit down.

Foreign policy is a fractious task. Made even more tenuous because it is based on interpersonal relationships - Heads of State coming to diplomatic solutions over conflicting issues. This is made especially cumbersome when you have a fickle bully in office like Trump. You truly cannot predict which way he will blow.

Following the Trump/Zelenskyy fallout, transatlantic nations quickly stepped up to take charge of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, pledging to ramp up funding, with England and France suggesting a temporary pause in fighting.

Maybe it was exactly what Trump wanted, the conflict off his hands entirely and the US role in it, drawn down.

Regardless, the interlude brought plenty to light.

For starters, Trump’s skewed foreign policy when it comes to the two wars and their presidents. While a mineral deal in the Ukraine serves US interests, how are the billions in aid to Israel considered a sound investment?

Secondly, the derision served to the Ukrainian president for not bowing to Russia’s demands and defending his country, is in sharp contrast to the Trump administration singing Netanyahu’s tune over Gaza and the flurry of ridiculous announcements following his visit to the White House earlier this month.

Among them, the mass exodus of Gaza’s population to Egypt and Jordan, Trump’s takeover of Gaza, and who can forget, the AI-generated depictions of Trump’s casino in the destroyed territory.

The stark contrast is made more depraved because unlike Ukraine, Israel is not fighting an autocratic state. Rather, a nationalist rebellion against a brutal military occupation, whose residents have a historical claim to the land where they live and where a young civilian population remains at the mercy of US-armed militia that has deliberately and completely decimated the territory of Gaza.

On Sunday, Palestinian-Israeli documentary ‘No Other Land’ won an Oscar for Best Documentary. Filmed between 2019 and 2023, ‘No Other Land’ captures the struggles of residents in Masafer Yatta, West Bank, experiencing frequent demolitions and evictions by the Israeli army.

Co-director and Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham said, “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed.”

“When I look at Basel, I see my brother but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military law that destroys his life and he cannot control.”

Former President Barack Obama, once berated Netanyahu during a private meeting at the White House, telling him that the region should revert back to the 1968 borders between Israel and Palestine. Netanyahu, in turn, responded furiously telling him how that will never happen, leaving Obama to walk out seething.

While we cannot picture Trump and Netanyahu squaring off this way, there’s room to wonder to what extent the US will be supportive of Netanyahu leveraging lucrative economic relations with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab states, all while further tarnishing its global standing. Is the current US foreign policy stance only relegated to the Palestinian cause?

For example, If Iran and Israel were to have a confrontation in the near future, will Netanyahu also be paraded into the White House, told to give in to Iran’s demands, for if he doesn’t will be responsible for World War III and the blood of his citizens?

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