‘They made a mistake’: Zelensky torches dollar store dictator Trump for waving off Putin’s monstrosities

When it comes to dictator man-crushes, nobody does it quite like Donald Trump.

In what can only be described as the least surprising plot twist, our commander-in-chief is once again batting his eyelashes at Vladimir Putin while Ukraine burns. But this time, President Zelensky isn’t just rolling his eyes. When Trump dismissed a Russian cluster bomb attack on Palm Sunday churchgoers as a mere “oopsie-daisy” from his BFF Putin, Zelensky essentially told him to take his “they made a mistake” nonsense and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. And honestly? It’s about damn time.

The Ukrainian leader accused Trump and Vice President JD Vance of downplaying Russia’s culpability and engaging in what he called “an altered reality” that ignores the clear black-and-white nature of the conflict. “There is an aggressor and there is a victim,” Zelensky said pointedly in a recent interview. “The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim.” For Zelensky, the issue is clear-cut, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Yet Trump and his administration seem intent on reframing the narrative, casting blame on everyone but Vladimir Putin.

Trump has long positioned himself as a self-proclaimed peacemaker, and in typical fashion, he wasted no time blaming his political rivals for the ongoing war. In a social media post earlier this week, Trump claimed that the war “never would have started” if he were still in office, pinning the blame squarely on President Joe Biden and, oddly enough, Zelensky himself. “President Zelenskyy and Crooked Joe Biden did an absolutely horrible job in allowing this travesty to begin,” Trump wrote, offering no specifics and ignoring the fact that it was Putin — not the U.S. or Ukraine — who ordered the invasion.

But Trump’s most jarring statement came when he addressed a recent Russian cluster bomb strike on civilians attending a church service on Palm Sunday. Speaking to reporters, Trump called the attack “horrible” but quickly added, “I was told they made a mistake.” A mistake? This wasn’t an accidental misfire or a case of mistaken identity. This was a deliberate act of violence against unarmed civilians, and calling it an error diminishes not only the lives lost but the gravity of Russia’s ongoing war crimes.

While Trump’s defenders might argue that he’s trying to keep channels open for diplomacy, his comments risk normalizing Putin’s behavior. By framing atrocities as “mistakes,” Trump effectively lets Russia off the hook. So here we are, watching as the leader of the free world waves away war crimes like they’re parking tickets, while a former comedian turned wartime president tries to explain that being invaded isn’t actually a “both sides” issue. If there’s a more perfect encapsulation of our current moment in world politics, I haven’t seen it. And frankly, I don’t think my blood pressure could handle it if I did.