The Trump-Zelenskyy drama: A clash of values

Donald John Trump, the 47th American President, is a living example of the dangerous combination of extreme power and excessive wealth. That danger came out clear from his 50-minute altercation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, on Friday, 28th February, 2025, at the Oval Office in Washington. Unlike a normal diplomatic exchange between two Heads of State, this meeting was a one-way show in which Trump virtually bullied and intimidated Zelenskyy, from beginning to end. 

Welcoming the Ukrainian President, Trump mocked, rather sarcastically, why  Zelenskyy was not properly dressed, suggesting that he ought to have come in suit – as expected of anyone visiting the leader of the most powerful country on earth! Much of what followed was a case of the strong pitted against the weak. President Trump and his Vice, J. D Vance, talked-down, scolded and humiliated Zelenskyy, first, with a stern warning that he was “gambling with World War III.” 

The two powerful men then castigated their visitor for not being grateful to the U.S. which had spent as much as $350 billion on his country. More seriously, Trump told Zelenskyy that he did not have the “winning card” in the conflict with Russia, and gave him the  ultimatum to accept any deal on offer – even, if it meant throwing his people under the bus – or face the consequence of his entire country and people being wiped out of existence. 

In spite of Trump’s bullying and bombardments, Zelenskyy was courageous enough to defend his country and people. In a respectful tone, he told the powerful duo that his country had always expressed gratitude to the U.S.; that Putin could not be trusted to honour any agreement, and that the Ukrainian situation was far more dire than a “game of cards”. Visibly angered by Zelenskyy’s audacious response, Trump thought that he had taken enough of the “small man.” And, he summarily ordered the Ukrainian President out of the Oval Office. 

The altercation between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy was the lowest ever in international statesmanship. First it was a clash between two opposite value systems. Trump, as we know him, is dominated by extreme materialism of the wealth-and-power hybrid – a natural offshoot of the capitalist system into which he was born and bred. He prides himself as a successful businessman, gifted with the art of making money, and whose one and only goal is to make America richer and richer, no matter what it takes.

In history, the nearest to Trump’s attitude was advocated by the Philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, who believes that the political leader does not need to be morally good to anyone, and that all he needs are manipulative skills, ingenuity and craftiness. Machiavelli was a moral aberration; so is Trump, whose approach is to court favour with powerful world leaders at the expense of weak ones.

Indeed, Trump has never hidden his dictatorial tendencies; he has, on a number of occasions, openly declared admiration for autocrats such as Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, with whom he is eager to form a league of autocrats. So, what he did at the meeting was obvious: a strategic move aimed at sacrificing Zelenskyy before the Russian President.

And, as it happened, a few days after the meeting, the United States announced her decision to withhold weapon supply and military intelligence sharing from Ukraine. Naturally, Putin took advantage of a weakened Ukraine, and intensified his bombing campaigns.   

Trump’s brand of materialism is expressed in what is now referred to as a transactional value system, characterised by the high urge for material possesions, profit-making and competitiveness, as against other non-material values. It is a socio-economic trait that exists in individuals across cultures, but more pronounced in some than others.

The hunger for power, profit, winning, etc., have overwhelming influence on Trump’s thoughts and dealings. That is why he would urge his supporters to follow him so they could “win, win and win, until they were tired of winning”! For him, success is measured mainly in terms of the self, possessions, wealth and power. 

The meeting between the two presidents also showed clearly that in any gang up by powerful leaders, the victims are always the weak ones. Indeed, any alliance united by extreme power and wealth is almost always invincible.

Ask Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, what happened when she dared to confront the powerful Nigerian Senate. Until she was suspended, very few colleagues fought on her side. Even the Nigerian First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who once battled fiercely for women’s rights in the Upper Chamber, has now spoken against her own gender, and in favour of those she once labelled as oppressors. And, who says that Senator Tinubu’s position has not been endorsed by her husband? 

The other lesson to learn from the altercation between Trump and Zelenskyy is that these two leaders have different value systems. Trump’s materialism is driven by the ego and advocated through the creed of “Make America Great Again (MAGA).” Viewed from a different angle, it boils down to what, in secondary school, we used to call “do-me-I-do-you” attitude.

Anyway, Trump doesn’t really care what it is called, insofar as it works for him.  Nor does he bother whether or not his personal ethos conflict with the dominant values embraced by the rest of the modern world, including the democratic values of freedom, equality, justice, human rights, empathy, etc., that define the American system and all other  liberal democracies of the world.

More worrisome, Trump’s materialism is weird because it goes beyond the possession of material objects. The almighty Trump has, soon after assuming office, expressed his intension to acquire autonomous and independent nations, for example, Iceland, or to even recolonise Panama and convert Canada into America’s 51st State! Beyond this bizarre acquisitive urge, Trump has been unpredictable in conduct. He is fighting America’s age-long friends, and has set Western alliances wobbling. Now, Trump is courting Putin, forgetting, so soon, how his attempt to romance North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, during his first tenure, blew up in his face.

Trump’s thoughts are infantile and inconsistent. Today, he would announce the imposition of tariffs on certain nations; tomorrow, he would revoke his own decision. One moment, he decides to withdraw military intelligence from Ukraine; not long after, he speculates about easing the same restriction. The illogicality in Trump’s pronouncements is unimaginable. He talks about imposing sanctions on Putin while at the same time, he believes that anybody in Putin’s position would do exactly what he is doing. 

Overall, Trump is chaotic, in word and in action! Yet, he receives loud applause from those around him. That, in fact, is the man’s greatest weakness: Trump loves ovasions and praises, and, like a baby, he easily succumbs to adulation, hero-worship and flattery, which explains why many see him as a looming danger to America’s 236 years of democratic governance. 

Whatever we may think about Trump, there can be no doubt that his pronouncements, actions and style are an embarrassment to the average American, including many of his Republican colleagues. The great puzzle is how, in a society with hundreds of millions of sound minds, leading academic giants, Nobel Lauretes and other decent human beings, the American system could throw up a muddled man such as Trump. The only consolation, though, is that in history, men like Trump come and go, but humanity never loses course. 
Sogolo is Emeritus Professor, who has taught and conducted research in Philosophy for over 50 years, first at the University of Ibadan and currently at the National Open University of Nigeria.