The New America

The United States of America is going through a major change as the Trump presidency begins to take a flamethrower to the country. As a Brit watching all this unfold from across the Atlantic, I wonder to myself, where did it go wrong? What happened to the once-great America?

Donald Trump has now called Zelenksyy a dictator and has been spreading an unfathomable amount of lies about America’s closest allies and the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, and more worrying, members of the Make America Great Again movement (MAGA) have been lapping this nonsense up.

The meaning of a fact seems to be the greyest it has ever been, with different sides claiming what they are saying is true because a,b, and c say so. The other side says what they say is true because x,y, and z say so. Neither side is prepared to change their viewpoints or acknowledge the credibility of some world-renowned news sources.

Statements claiming that Ukraine was responsible for the war it is now fighting are just completely false as it began when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and then in February 2022 when Russia mounted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Some people claim the justification for this war is NATO threatening Russia by expanding towards them. There are several inconsistencies with this theory. First, NATO is a defensive alliance, and countries have to apply to join it. They are not forced to join, such as in Ireland and Switzerland, who remain neutral. Secondly, before the annexation of Crimea, the last NATO expansion close to the Russian border was in 2004, so it took Putin a decade to plot a response because he was so mad at the defensive alliance.

In addition, several major public figures and politicians have claimed that Zelensky is a dictator because the country has not had a general election since 2019, with the one prior being held in 2014. Zelenskyy won the 2019 election with 74.69% of the votes. With elections being held every five years, the next election should have taken place in 2024. However, there is the problem of the war that is still raging on.

Major cities in Ukraine suffer almost nightly attacks by Russian missiles and drones. The power supply is constantly going on and off as Russia attacks the country’s energy infrastructure. Furthermore, well over 6 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the war started, and a further 3 to 3.5 million people live under Russian occupation. How on earth are the Ukrainians meant to hold an election, given the circumstances?

America is certainly changing, and most people in the “West” will think these changes are not for the best, whereas other nations, such as Russia, may think differently. However, if one thing remains the same, it is that I am proud of the support the United Kingdom has and continues to give to the people of Ukraine as they fight to stop the fantasy of one man’s apparent dream come true.