ODESA, Ukraine — President Trump’s whiplash pronouncements in his push for peace in Ukraine are exhausting people here. Early hopes for a quickly negotiated end to the war have transformed into frustration and anger against an American president seen as favoring Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainians were cautiously optimistic when Trump was elected in November, with polls conducted at the end of the year showing that 54 percent of respondents viewed his victory as good for Ukraine. By March, that number dropped to 19 percent.
It followed a disastrous Oval Office meeting where Trump and Vice President Vance scolded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as being insufficiently grateful, and the Ukrainian leader questioned their strategy of diplomacy with Putin.
Trump’s latest remarks calling Putin “crazy” for launching a massive attack against Ukraine over the weekend wasn’t enough to shift the pessimism surrounding Trump.
On the streets of Odesa in Ukraine’s south, attitudes generally match the polls. With the war in its third year, people also reflected on their experiences surviving the invasion and at times occupation.
Here are some of their responses in interviews with The Hill, edited lightly for clarity.
What do you think of President Trump?
Valeria, 23, administrator of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) co-working space, Odesa
“During the election time, we had big hopes for him, before he became president, because he had strong speeches which we believed in [like ending the war in one day]. Especially me, I believed him. We believed, because first of all, America for us, it was like big hope, so that’s why we had this trust.”
“Then we start to understand that he tries to sit one ass on two chairs,” she said.
“Before, we hope that he start to be on our side, and defend us … now we see he is mostly in the Russian side, and he plays by Russian rules, oppress us and try to pressure us to give up our territory because we are less than Russia.
“I still believe that American people are our friends — it’s not about the leaders — because I think the American population is more on our side, because I see the reactions of them.”
“But now I see Trump leader almost like Putin, maybe not almost, but very close to him, it’s like he is with imperialistic mood and wants to conquer all the world.”
Oleksandr, 59, and Victoria, 53, a refugee couple from Donetsk living in Odesa
“Nothing good,” Oleksandr responds when asked what he thinks of Trump. “He is on the side of our attacker.”
“He does not do fair politics, and not wrong politics,” Victoria adds. “He is friends with Putin.”
Anatoly, 85, volunteer knitting camouflage, displaced from the Donbas
“I don’t know what to think of Trump because there is a lot of information coming from different sources and it’s hard to trust. But my opinion and observation is that the U.S. is losing its leading role.”
“It was a more human-oriented position coming from the U.S.” under former President Biden, he said.
“If Mr. Trump learns about Ukrainian history, he would probably talk about it in a different way.”
Tanya, 35, native of Odesa
“I’m in the middle of like or dislike” of Trump, Tanya said.
“Maybe he is a friend for Ukraine, but it looks like a game — we as Ukrainian people are like dolls, people whom he and [the] American government can manipulate, I think.”
Oleksandr, 42, head of an NGO in Odesa
Oleksandr said he was hopeful around the time of Trump’s inauguration, because he viewed the incoming president as much more confident and decisive than Biden.
“But Trump tired us much more quickly than Biden,” Oleksandr said, pointing to the whiplash around Trump’s announcements.
“What can I say more about Trump? I don’t know why but he likes Putin, this is a strange thing.”
“I know my next car or phone will not be American because of Trump. My next car will be from Germany, but with the phone I only have a choice between a Chinese phone or an American phone produced in China,” Oleksandr says, joking that there’s no pro-Ukraine choice.
What do you think about Ukrainian President Zelensky?
Trump has at times been highly critical of Zelensky, suggesting the Ukrainian leader is an unpopular authoritarian seeking to avoid elections. Polls have shown that while Zelensky’s approval has fallen throughout the war, he remains above 50 percent support, and well above the 4 percent Trump once claimed.
Ukrainians who spoke to The Hill ranged from frustrated with to supportive of the president.
Valeria, 23
“I cannot say I totally support his activities, but for me he is not the worst president because we saw really the worst,” she said, mentioning former President Petro Poroshenko.
On the Trump and Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office: “If he tried to humiliate Zelensky, honestly he humiliated himself.”
Oleksandr, 59, and Victoria, 53
“Zelensky is more or less good, but the people around him are not good and their politics are not good,” Oleksandr said, accusing his allies of corruption.
Anatoly, 85
“I didn’t vote for him but I think he’s a good leader in these times, because he’s young and strong, he can take on all the challenges, respond to things swiftly, and that is the kind of leader Ukraine needs.”
Tanya, 35
“When Zelensky started, I like him, but now, not,” she said. “Because I think this war could stop in 2022 … now I can’t see it finish, now I don’t know when it will finish.”
Oleksandr, 42
“If the elections will be just now, maybe I will elect Zelensky,” he said.
“He’s not the best president, he leans to authoritarianism. But he seems to me now, effective.”
“There is a big chance he will be elected in the next elections.”
How are you coping with the war?
Valeria, 23
“I learned to put clothes on very quickly.”
“In the beginning, it was worse because at that time I lived in the city almost surrounded [by Russian forces]. I learned how to survive in the basement, to have food in one or two to three days, to live without any mobile or internet connection. So now it’s a little bit better situation here.”
“One main thing I learned [is] to value the moment with my close people. Because I didn’t see my relatives. My grandmother is under occupation in an occupied city. My mother and stepfather are in the military, and my father is also in occupied territory.
“The most [important] thing is life, and other problems go behind.”
Oleksandr, 42
“I learned to shoot the gun, put the tourniquets. I survived without electricity for two or three days. Wash myself with wet napkins, very strange things.”
Tanya, 35
“I learned to live for today — not postpone life to tomorrow, because I don’t know if I will be alive tomorrow or not,” she said.