What’s different in Ukraine under Trump?

City utility workers clean up the aftermath of a Russian drone attack on the railway station on Aug. 5, 2025, in Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Photo by Yana Sliemzina/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

It was February of 2022 when President Joe Biden addressed the nation and tried to talk Russian President Vladimir Putin down from going into Ukraine.

It didn’t work. Days later, the Russians rebuffed Biden and invaded.

That moment became a point of attack for President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, who criticized his Democratic rival for being unable to prevent a war. Ending the war in Ukraine became a campaign priority.

But six months after Trump took office, the war rages on. A natural question one might ask: Is anything different under this new administration in Ukraine?

“Maybe something has changed, but I wouldn’t say that we feel it,” one Ukrainian told me. 

That seems to be the sentiment for many here.

To an extent, it’s a tale of two presidencies when it comes to the situation in Ukraine.

On the one hand, you have Biden, who was verbally and firmly in full support of Ukraine from the beginning and consistently criticized Russia. 

On the other hand, you have Trump, who at times in recent months has spoken warmly of Russian President Vladimir Putin but has now been sharper in his condemnation of Russia’s actions.

“Words are one thing and actions are another, and maybe, just maybe, Trump is able to do something completely different from what he’s doing today,” a young Ukrainian woman told me. “So he is such an unpredictable person that anything can happen, and I think that’s exactly what all of the Ukraine is thinking. Biden was very understandable but basically without much action.”

Another notable difference has been the rhetoric between Washington and Kyiv under the new administration, with a public argument breaking out in the Oval Office earlier this year between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

That was a moment that fired up members of the president’s base, who took to his message of “no new wars” and an “America-first” posture.

But equally noteworthy, the exchange reinvigorated people on the ground in Ukraine. 

“Ukrainians were really motivated to fight again because they were really proud of the response from Zelenskyy,” another Ukrainian told me. 

So, have things been verbally different from one presidency to another? Certainly. 

But tangibly? Little has changed. Three and a half years into this war, bombs are still falling, and heavy fighting is ongoing. 

“It’s like living in a lottery,” said another Ukrainian. “I wish this horror would end soon.”

Will it? Maybe. This is shaping up to be a highly consequential week as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to be in Moscow ahead of Trump’s Friday deadline for Russia to make strides toward peace.

If Russia doesn’t reach a ceasefire, more economic sanctions will likely follow, including secondary tariffs on major Russian trade partners. Trump has mentioned India by name multiple times this week as a target for a tariff hike due to the fact that it buys a lot of Russian oil. 

But despite the tough talk, optimism is low here. Ukrainians have been down this road before and heard the threat of “economic sanctions” many times. It hasn’t changed their everyday reality. 

“We hear a lot of things from Mr. Trump,” a young Ukrainian told me. “If he is successful, we will be glad. If not, we will be relying on ourselves.”

Who blinks first? Welcome to brinkmanship. 

We have a lot more to share from Ukraine this week. 

Tonight, I’ll be taking you to the front line, where we’ll go inside one of Ukraine’s drone workshops. This is where modern warfare is reinventing itself at a rapid pace, and unconventional fighting reigns supreme. I asked Ukrainians point-blank if they think the United States is ready for the new era.

Their response? “No.”