5osted first time on Feb. 24, 2026

Peter Baker of the New York Times is leading the charge of the meme brigade lambasting President Trump for his statements about the Ukrainian war and the dictator Volodimir Zelensky. It is easy to contradict his claims by reading his own paper. The Times Moscow Bureau Chief Anton Troianovski, laid out not only the reasons for the war, but also the actions taken by Zelinsky that made him a dictator.

Just a quick history of what led us to this conflict. While the tension between the Ukraine and Russia has simmered since the fall of the Soviet Union, things begin to come to ahead in 2014. Russian nationalists in the Ukraine, especially in the Donbas region, conducted a mini coup declaring independence from the Ukraine and joining Russia. It wasn't until 2022 that Russia actually invaded Ukrainian territory.

Immediately upon Joe Biden taking office, Zelensky took several actions to thumb his nose at Russia and consolidate his control over his country. Viktor Medvedchuk was the leader of a pro Russia political party in the Ukraine and owned a number of media outlets that broadcast not only pro Russia news stories but also were very critical of president Zelensky.

In 2020 Zelensky took several actions that are very characteristic of a dictator and not a democracy. He arrested Medvedchuk, shut down his media outlets claiming they were nothing but Russia propaganda, and outlawed his political party. Zelensky Also shut down places of worship with strong ties to Russia And suspended elections after he got their legislative body to grant him that power once he was able to declare martial law. His attempts to do that previously had been blocked by duly elected members of Medvedchuk's political party.

Troianovski also pointed out that Zelensky was making public statements that were contradictory to what he was discussing with his generals and secretaries. He told the United States and world media that this was a fight for democracy and freedom rather than a territorial dispute. He told anyone that would listen that his generals believed they could win the war against Russia while being told by his generals, who he later dismissed for telling the truth, that they could not win the war.

He also shut down reporters and members of his administration who began to question the spending of the money he was getting from the United States and other countries specifically for defense. The purchases of villas in Italy and Greece as well as diamond necklaces, $1,000,000 automobiles and more. His claims internationally that the Ukrainian economy was in shambles when even their own news outlets did stories about how normal life was in the Ukraine outside of the war zone but also that the economy was growing, data that was backed up by the World Bank.

Mr. Baker and others claiming that Donald Trump is revising history to serve his own purposes are actually guilty of projecting their own actions on the president. Much of the reporting done by his own paper was supported by reports from national public radio and The Associated Press. But as usual, Mr. Baker relies upon the ignorance, short term memory, and hatred of Donald Trump to garner support for his lies. As usual, the Democrats and RINOs in Congress also rely upon Mr. Baker to carry their water and keep the base rallied in their quest to regain power. It is a proven strategy that has been successful for decades.