Trump Turns on Zelensky
Trump Turns on Zelensky
Plus: Ukraine Isn’t Ready for the Pro-Putin GOP
Recently in The Bulwark:
ANDREW EGGER, MARC A. CAPUTO & JIM SWIFT: What Vance’s Vetters Missed
JVL: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Trump Watch 🔐
SONNY BUNCH: ‘Megalopolis’ Review
Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a subscriber: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
WILL SALETAN: Trump Turns on Zelensky
UKRAINE’S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES have taken a dangerous turn: Donald Trump has begun to think of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as his political enemy.
Trump has always sympathized with Russia and was never a fan of Ukraine. But until recently, Trump’s statements about the war in Ukraine were tempered by a personal factor: Trump liked Zelensky for defending him in 2019, when Trump faced impeachment for pressuring Ukraine to smear Joe Biden.
SAM STEIN: Dem Groups Hit the Alarm Button Over Black Voter Outreach
EARLIER THIS WEEK, two national Democratic groups released a memo warning that efforts to turn out voters of color were being severely underfunded.
That warning, issued by the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA and the progressive advocacy organization ProgressNow, was based on two sets of data. The first was a polling analysis showing that black, latino, and young voters in key swing states were not supporting Kamala Harris at the same levels as they had supported Joe Biden in 2020. The second was ad spending data showing that since the start of August, just 15 percent of digital communications on behalf of Harris had targeted communities of color in those states.
It was an alarm bell.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Amanda Carpenter: Get With the Program, Already [YouTube]
Across the Movie Aisle: Brad Pitt vs. George Clooney 🔐
Beg to Differ: The Gender Chasm
The Secret Show: The Latest Trump Scam 🔐
The Michael Steele Show: From Neglect to Power: Family, Trauma and Politics (with Mary L. Trump) [YouTube]
Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.
Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
📣Bulwark+ members can now listen to ad-free podcasts on Spotify! Learn more here.
✍️Also: Did you know that every podcast has a transcript for B+ members? Yes! If you’re more a reader than a listener/viewer, open any podcast and the transcript button is beneath the player.
TAMAR JACOBY: Ukraine Isn’t Ready for the Pro-Putin GOP
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY made a couple of unforced errors in the last few weeks. They were all small things, the kind of missteps we all make occasionally, and even on the world stage, they might have gone unnoticed. But the Ukrainian leader had no idea what he was up against—a Republican party determined to turn him and the global conflict in Ukraine into this cycle’s political football.
Zelensky and his team had been working for months to cultivate Donald Trump and his entourage. It wasn’t just, as Zelensky said in the letter he sent to Trump on Thursday, that he had always tried to show “respect” for the former president. Like other governments across Europe, the Ukrainians were well aware that Trump had at least an even chance of retaking the White House, and they were determined to establish a relationship. Some even hoped that Trump could be a friend—that unlike Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who have given Kyiv just enough help to hold off the Russian army but not enough to win, Trump might be more decisive, forcing a definitive outcome that might benefit Ukraine.
AMY HENDERSON: The Moment When Impressionism Took the Stage
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART trumpets Paris 1874 as a fresh look at “the radical 1874 exhibition considered the birth of modern painting.” But that understates the show’s ambition and achievement. Paris 1874 brings together 125 paintings, prints, sculptures, and pastels to present many of Impressionism’s emerging works alongside more traditional forms. It’s really, as the curators call it, “a tale of two exhibitions” from 150 years ago: the vast annual exhibition of the state-sponsored Paris Salon of 1874 and the smaller, independent display a mile away organized by a splinter group of artists for their freshly minted Société Anonyme.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! The storms are here and we’ve only lost power once (knock on wood) so far. We have it easy compared to those south and to the east of us, so keep those recovering in your thoughts. For the first major storm in a new house, it is a learning experience!
Appreciate the kind notes from those of you who shared your Busken stories with me. You can order the cookies, as I noted in Morning Shots, and they are good!
Pour one out… For a midwestern icon, Schwann’s, which is closing for good. (Minnesota Public Radio)
Big losses… For former Presidential hopeful/spoiler RFK Jr., who will remain on the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Ranking Rizzler… Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Go watch… The Evangelicals for Harris ads. Even if you’re not an Evangelical. They’re well done. Particularly the first one with Billy Graham.
We Are Surrounded By Bullsh*tters… Which doesn't mean we have to become them, writes Matt Labash.
Back in the old neighborhood… The Republican candidate for Abigail Spanberger’s Congressional seat is using his friend’s wife and children for photo ops. (NYT 🎁)
A spox for Anderson told Rolling Stone:
A spokesperson for Anderson told the Times that “Derrick’s opponent and every other candidate in America are in similar pictures and video with supporters of all kinds,” adding that the content in question simply featured “with female supporters and their kids.”
“Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal.”… David Pepper is turning his popular Substack on Project 2025 into an audio series, read by professional voice actors, and professional actors, like Richard Schiff and Mark Hammill. Here’s how to listen.
Meanwhile… One of the architects of it did not resign, but rather, was fired, reports Philip Wegmann at RCP.
Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
—30—
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.