Ukrainians Are Confused by Americans’ Acquiescence to Trump

Just six months after his second term, US President Donald Trump had already caused unprecedented chaos on the government and the United States. He issued more than 20 executive requests (EOS) on the opening day alone, bypassing Congress and seeking to impose what many have called a fascist agend. Among the most radical Eo 14158, which now established the Grand Government Efficiency Department now (DOGE), and Eo 14169, which was free of freely all US foreign aid.

I am one of the many in Washington who lost their job as a result of EO 14169. Until recently, I worked in a high -level organization, where I presented projects that advanced and defended human rights in Ukraine. While we were denying the repercussions of the executive order, it was one of the questions I heard over and over the Ukrainians: “Why do not the Americans do anything?”

It is not a sudden feeling. Since the last years of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has witnessed three impressive mass protest movements. The first was the revolution in granite in 1990, when students occupied what would become the Kiev Independence Square to demand the early parliamentary elections, and they rejected a proposed union treaty with Moscow, and called for the nationalization of the Communist Party’s property. Tens of thousands walked through solidarity with students.

The second is the 2004 orange revolution, with more than 500,000 people gathered in the square to protest against forged presidential elections. The third and most famous of the international public is 2013-2014 Euromaidan, where hundreds of thousands occupied the field in response to the then President Victor Yanukovic’s rejection of the long-awaited association’s agreement with the European Union. While the most surprising images were from KyIV, cities around Ukraine – including LVIV, SUMY, Zaporizzhia, Dnipro, Odesa and Kharkiv – also witnessed major protests, as well as storming government buildings.

It is worth noting that all the three movements obtained results. The first led to the surrender of the Soviet state to many demands of the demonstrators, the second in canceling the results of the fraudulent elections, and the third in the prolongation of Yanukovic. The Ukrainians were also recently in the streets, as they successfully protested the abolition of independent anti -corruption institutions.

There were serious protest demonstrations in the United States. On April 19, there were Trump’s anti -Trump measures in 12,000 sites in all fifty states, which were later followed by “No Kings” protests at the level of the country on June 14. But there was nothing similar in the range, time, or success of the three Ukrainian examples mentioned above. To find out the reason for the absence of an American field, I spoke with four Ukrainians: Alia Shandra, founder of the Euromaidan Press; Kateryna Butko, founder of Auto Maidan Activist Group; Romeo Cokritsky, an American -Ukrainian journalist who has lived in Ukraine since 2014; DMYTRO ZHMAILO, an expert in the history of modern Ukraine and co -founder of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center. Shandra and Putco participated in the 2014 revolution.

In each of the three revolutions, the Ukrainians were facing governments that were seen as illegal. In 1990, the Soviet state was not elected. In 2004, Yanukovic was elected. In the period 2013-2014, Yanukovic was again-this time not because of the fraud in the elections, but because of the seizure of state institutions, the European Atlantic path rejected, and blatant violence against the demonstrators. In contrast, even Trump’s powerful opponents do not oppose the legitimacy of the results of the presidential elections for the year 2024.

Regardless of the anti -democratic nature of Trump’s policies, the fact remains that he has the real support for about 50 percent of the country and that he won 2.2 million individuals more than Kamal Harris. “There is a large part of the US population that wants fascism,” said Cokritsky. “In Ukraine, one of the things that was made [Euro]The successful field is that everyone hates Yanukovic. BotCo repeated this opinion, saying: “We had only one goal … Yanukovic was running away, no one wanted such a president. We have protected this goal, and for this reason we had a lot of people. “

The struggle for national independence and identity was another factor in the mass protests of Ukraine. “All the three Ukrainian revolutions were … a common ground: defending national interests, establishing the state, and the right of the Ukrainians to live in their independent state.” Lahndra was the same perspective, as Ukraine’s revolutions were framing as different repetitions from the “liberation war of the Russian Empire.” Those who oppose Trump lack external chips to fill the resistance against.

While centuries of colonial persecution means that the Ukrainians view the consensus with Russia as a basic attack on their nationality and national identity, there is no similar historical resonance in the United States. Americans must fight a local phenomenon with great legitimacy.

There is intense research on how people choose to protest and why a historical precedent plays a major role. When the Ukrainians flooded the field of independence during the Euromaidan revolution, they only had to look back for 10 years for a successful example of collective packing. Americans lack this kind of modern examples. While there were protest movements worldwide, such as the 2003 marches against the Iraq war and the protests of the issue of blacks 2020, they did not lead to a major political change. It can be said that the latest examples of American mass protests that lead to a concrete change are the anti-war demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s-half a century.

In modern history, the Americans, especially the white majority, had the luxury of taking their rights as a Muslim. “The Ukrainians were not a strong country or a strong people.” “Century of colonial persecution by Russia means that” the Ukrainians know that if you do not try at least the struggle for your rights … those rights will be taken … away from you. “There is nothing similar to this for the United States, and the peak of civil rights rights has been a long time ago … You do not have that living memory that if you do not stand now, you will disappear.”

Zhmailo confirmed this point, saying: “the words of” democracy “,” freedom of expression “,” equality “is not hollow for us. Shandra also highlighted the Ukrainians’ readiness to put their lives at stake by saying, “I think we have succeeded [in the Euromaidan] Because there were young people who were ready to die for their ideals.

There is another decisive difference between the United States and Ukraine, which is the importance of ideological differences. “It seems that American society is more attractive than Ukraine along the ideological camps,” said Chandra. UNRomaidan has witnessed the Ukrainians from all over the political spectrum united to achieve one goal. While the movement did not do much to change societal biases, activists have stood in the central box in Kiev along with right -wing groups such as the right sector of Yanukovic opposition.

In reference to the armed self -defense groups that appeared among the demonstrat Sotnyas Fighting along with the far right SotnyasZhamilo strengthened this opinion, saying: “In a critical moment, we set aside all the internal contradictions to unite to defend the state. … only in harmony and loneliness we can achieve results, and this is what we expose to the world. We want the world to learn from us. “

On the contrary, deep ideological differences drink Trump’s anti -Trump opposition. This was evident before the 2024 presidential elections, with the division between liberals and leftists on basic issues such as the position of the United States regarding the Israeli war on Gaza.

Chandra and Putko emphasized that mass protests such as Euromaidan are the last resort. “All our revolutions, it was because we could not [effect change] During the elections. … in Ukraine, we had no options, just to go to the streets. “

“Your democracy is healthier … than our movie, I am not sure that it can be dismantled in one day,” said Chandra. “It was easier for [Yanukovych] Because democracy has not yet taken a deep root. “

The Trump administration may attack the democratic foundations of the United States, but Americans still have institutional means of the opposition, with the courts as a major means. At the time of writing this report, the Trump administration faces more than 150 lawsuits that challenge each aspect of Trump’s agenda, from the FBI’s discounts to the persecution of migrants and asylum researchers.

As of June 4, judges in 188 of these cases called for the administration to temporarily stop the policies concerned. In the courts of the federal province, both the Republican Democratic Judges against Trump ruled the vast majority of cases even as the Supreme Court has repeatedly going. Resistance through litigation has a long precedent in the United States: the civil rights movement in the 1960s often in the courts.

In the middle of the period, the renewal elections will provide a decisive opportunity to cancel the fragile Trump majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, making it difficult to manage its controversial policies. Putto confirmed the arrival of the Americans to alternative protests, saying: “You will have elections for Congress and perhaps something will change after that. Americans have many options how to do this … not only through protest.”

What remains to see is the effectiveness of these other options with the management whose identity depends on distorting institutions that make these options possible. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject EO 14169 again in March, but the Trump administration did not transfer any move in the line. Officials such as US Vice President JD Vance refused to exclude the orders of the court and rejected the provincial court authority.

January 6, 2021, a warning shot showed that Trump’s supporters are ready to support violence and abolish the democratic operations of the United States. Those who rely on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law soon may find that the institutional paths that they have relied on so far are no longer effective. In this scenario, Americans can do worse than looking at the Ukrainians’ courage of inspiration.

“When you press the bottom, this is when it erupts,” said Chandra.

While American citizens stare in another barrel of Trump, they find themselves facing a more urgent question: What will the bottom of the American rocks be?