“Mein Trumpf”
As resistance to the controversial policies of the US president grows at home and abroad, some Americans are beginning to protest against several of Trump’s foreign and domestic policies.
by Katie Livingstone | February 18, 2025
KYIV POST
Demonstrators rally against US President Donald Trump during a protest, dubbed "Resist the Dictator," to mark President's Day on February 17, 2025, in New York.
(Photo by David Dee Delgado / AFP)
Thousands of Americans have gathered in cities across the country on President’s Day to protest a wide-ranging array of policies and decisions coming out of US President Donald Trump’s new administration – including his approach to ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Less than a month into his second term in office, Trump has caused concern and even panic among American organizations and departments that he has targeted for closure – like USAID and the Department of Education – and shocked many observers with the broad powers he has unilaterally bestowed upon his special adviser, tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Thousands of Americans have gathered in cities across the country on President’s Day to protest a wide-ranging array of policies and decisions coming out of US President Donald Trump’s new administration – including his approach to ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Less than a month into his second term in office, Trump has caused concern and even panic among American organizations and departments that he has targeted for closure – like USAID and the Department of Education – and shocked many observers with the broad powers he has unilaterally bestowed upon his special adviser, tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Demonstrators rally against US President Donald Trump during a protest,
dubbed "Resist the Dictator," to mark President's Day on February 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / AFP)
He has also upended the US’s place in the global balance of powers. He shocked allies in Ukraine and Europe on Wednesday when he announced via his social media platform that he had had a “great” conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, breaking a three-year pause in diplomatic relations between the two countries that kicked off after the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
He has also upended the US’s place in the global balance of powers. He shocked allies in Ukraine and Europe on Wednesday when he announced via his social media platform that he had had a “great” conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, breaking a three-year pause in diplomatic relations between the two countries that kicked off after the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Czech, Slovak FMs Dismiss Munich 1938 Comparison to Ukraine Talks
Several European leaders at a security conference in Munich last week drew parallels between the 1938 deal and the US and Russia meeting on ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Peace negotiations appear to have begun during that call – without Kyiv, breaking a long-standing American promise to never negotiate about the war in Ukraine without Ukraine.
Images from states on Monday show people gathering to resist Trump’s policies, waving American flags and holding handwritten posterboards condemning the president’s recent actions as authoritarian. It’s the second national protest held since Trump re-entered the White House.
Common motifs seen on signs included: “Stop the GOP coup,” “Mein Trumpf,” and “No one voted for Elon Musk.”
The blue and yellow of several Ukrainian flags could also be seen rising above the crowd that gathered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to protest the Trump administration on Monday. Rostyslav Boykowycz and his wife Kathy were among the protestors there to critique the president’s actions on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian plight is similar to the American plight at this time... There is a real possibility that the democratic system here will change. That’s apparent from what is happening. Not just the words, but what is happening.Rostyslav Boykowycz, 86, Ukrainian-American citizen
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated that Ukraine will not acquiesce to any agreement concerning the war made in its absence, but speeches made by American officials at the Munich Security Conference last weekend stirred fears that Kyiv may have little choice.
Rumors about the agenda of a bilateral meeting between American and Russian officials on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia have not quelled those fears.
After an emergency meeting among European allies on Monday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron announced that they would be willing to send troops under their national flags – but not as part of a NATO force – to maintain a peace settlement if necessary.
American officials said over the weekend that Ukraine had little chance of entering NATO or regaining its occupied territories and that US soldiers would not enter Ukraine under any circumstances.
Rostyslav, 86, told local NPR affiliate WESA that he and his wife were carrying Ukrainian flags to denounce Trump’s plan to “sell Ukrainians down the river.” He arrived in the US as a refugee from Ukraine after World War II and later became an architecture professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Now he fears that authoritarianism is threatening both the US and Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian plight is similar to the American plight at this time,” he said. “There is a real possibility that the democratic system here will change. That’s apparent from what is happening. Not just the words, but what is happening.”
Katie Livingstone is an American journalist who has covered the war in Ukraine since 2022. Her work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize among other awards and featured in Rolling Stone, Business Insider, USA Today, and several other outlets. She is a Fulbright Fellow whose work has focused on illuminating the impact of conflict and foreign policy on people and societies across the world.
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