U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Monday. When a reporter asked Zelenskyy about elections in Ukraine, the Ukrainian leader explained it was not possible to hold an election under current circumstances.
Around 20% of Ukrainian land is currently under Russian occupation, and the country has fully mobilized to defend itself against Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
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Trump, following Zelenskyy’s reply, said: “During the war, you can’t have elections? So let me just see — three and a half years from now, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections? Oh, that’s good!”
The Ukrainian president laughed and responded jokingly to Trump: “Oh, you like this idea?”
Trump’s comment, which could be perceived either as a joke or a threat, provoked an urgent response from some left-leaning commentators, who warned that the American president might seek to start a war simply to remain in office.
Previous U.S. wartime presidents, however, have never been forced to postpone federal elections as a result of foreign military occupation of U.S. lands. Even during the American Civil War, with the states warring between themselves, federal officials continued to hold elections to the best of their ability at the time.
Trump’s second term ends on January 20, 2029, when the next U.S. president will be sworn in.
