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Impressed by Ukraine’s Battlefield Gains, Trump Warms to Zelensky
The Ukrainian leader is planning to meet Tuesday with Trump at the White House.
WASHINGTON—For more than a year, President Trump insisted in private conversations with advisers that Ukraine was losing the war.
But in recent weeks, the president has expressed fresh optimism about Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, according to people who have spoken to him. Trump, the people said, has been impressed with Zelensky’s resilience as he takes the fight deep into Russian territory.
The shift comes after several meetings on the sidelines of global summits where the Ukrainian president has tried to charm Trump, the people said, part of a concerted campaign by European leaders to improve the relationship. Trump has come to admire Ukraine’s drone industry, especially its ability to defend against the same drones the U.S. faces in the Iran war, the people said.
Trump, a senior administration official said, likes winners—and Zelensky, in the U.S. president’s estimation, is increasingly looking like one.
“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe, right?” Trump said during a July meeting with Zelensky in Turkey.
It is a remarkable change of fortunes for Zelensky, whose relationship with Trump once seemed irredeemably damaged. Last year, Trump called Zelensky a dictator, criticized his leadership and berated him during a tense Oval Office meeting. Days after the meeting, Trump paused all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and he subsequently balked at sending more assistance to the beleaguered country.
The next test of the relationship comes Tuesday, when the two leaders will meet in Washington for the first time since October. Zelensky, who will be in Washington for the funeral for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, is scheduled to visit the White House.
Whether Trump’s newfound esteem for Zelensky will endure is an open question. People close to Trump noted that his views sometimes change quickly, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has in the past proved effective at pressing his case with Trump and some of his aides.
A White House official said the president and his team were committed to playing a constructive role in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine and speaking to both sides. Trump is optimistic that a peace deal can be reached, the official said.
Trump came into office as an opponent of foreign entanglements and harboring deep skepticism of Ukraine. He said that he would be able to settle the war in 24 hours, but since has acknowledged his frustration over his inability to do so.
At the start of his second term, Trump felt Zelensky wasn’t appreciative of U.S. assistance, advisers said, and the poor relationship between the two leaders spilled into public view in front of television cameras during the February 2025 Oval Office meeting.
The ugly incident prompted a monthslong campaign by European leaders and Republicans on Capitol Hill—including Graham—to patch things up.
U.S. officials assess that Putin hasn’t altered his strategic goal of subjugating Ukraine, despite staggering battlefield losses and escalating Ukrainian drone strikes that have reached as far as Siberia.
Trump initially thought that Russia’s military would overpower Ukraine, according to the senior administration official. But Trump now sees Putin in a less favorable light, according to people familiar with his views. Trump has told Putin he wants the war to end, citing the high casualties on both sides.
Trump’s views on the war also have been also shaped through less traditional means. He was impressed by heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting last month before the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match at the White House. Usyk told Trump that Ukrainians are fighters and winners, according to people familiar with the meeting.
Usyk presented Trump with a signed boxing glove and the two men bonded over their love for the late Muhammad Ali, with whom Usyk shares a birthday. Usyk, through his broken English, shared how his family was under fire in Kyiv. At one point, Trump asked the fighter how Russians and Ukrainians are different. Usyk pointed to his head and to his heart—and said the differences were there, the people familiar with the meeting said.
Trump has also heard recently from right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who reversed her longstanding criticism of Ukraine after traveling to Kyiv and interviewing Zelensky. Trump and Loomer have talked on the phone several times since her trip. She explained her change of heart by saying she was tricked by Russian propaganda and praised Zelensky as a “wartime leader” and an “essential ally.”
During his interview with Loomer, Zelensky opened up about a turning point in his relationship with Trump when they huddled at the Vatican last year at the funeral of Pope Francis. Zelensky called it a historic moment in which the two leaders “changed the relations during 15-20 minutes.” Zelensky said he stressed to Trump the loss of human life if a ceasefire with Russia wasn’t reached.
Other European leaders, including North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, have spoken frequently with Trump about the merits of backing Ukraine.
During a private dinner on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier this month, Graham gave a glowing toast to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as he lobbied the administration to get on board with a Russia sanctions and tariff bill he had championed in Congress. The White House later signaled its support for a revised version of the legislation.
Trump announced at the summit that the U.S. would consider granting Kyiv a license to produce U.S. Patriot missile interceptors, and he expressed interest in joining with Ukraine on drone production.
Over the course of the war, Ukraine has transformed into a military-drone powerhouse. It went from producing around 5,000 drones a year in 2022 to millions a year in 2026, according to data from Ukraine’s government. Kyiv’s heavy reliance on drones has helped turn the tide against Russia despite the larger country’s superior manpower levels and industrial capacity.
Trump has privately said that he was impressed with Ukraine’s effective use of drone warfare, according to administration officials familiar with his views. The Ukrainians have been defending against Iranian made Shahed suicide drones, fending off the types of attacks the U.S. military and its allies now face in the Middle East with dwindling supplies of air-defense stocks.
Ukraine over the weekend struck vessels funneling arms from Iran to Russia through the Caspian Sea, showcasing a new capability to strike a critical supply line for Tehran to one of its most important military partners—a move that could further endear Trump to Ukraine’s fighting prowess.
Write to Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com, Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com and Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com
