More Americans see Trump as a dictator than they do Zelensky

On February 19th, Donald Trump abruptly reversed his seemingly warm stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after he unloaded on his ally in a Truth Social post that referred to Zelensky as a dictator. 

"A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump noted in what was a larger Truth Social post attacking Zelensky. "I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered."

Photo Credit: Truth Social @realDonaldTrump

The move was a second salvo from Trump at the Ukrainian President amid the quickly deteriorating relationship between Trump and Ukraine following American peace talks with Russia that excluded Ukrainian representatives. 

Trump's ire with Zelensky had been raised in the days leading up to US bilateral peace talks with Russia, which were held in Saudi Arabia. However, Trump shocked the world when he publicly went after Zelensky on February 18th. 

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, where the leader in Ukraine, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating," Trump explained at a press conference according to Euronews.

Zelensky responded to Trump’s claim by stating that the 4% support number Trump quoted came from Russia. “We understand this, and we have evidence that these numbers are being discussed between the US and Russia,” Zelensky said. 

Whether or not Zelensky's response to Trump’s claims was what led to the US President’s Truth Social attack on Zelensky is unknown, but we do know that many Americans see Trump, not Zelensky, as more of a dictator according to recent polling. 

On February 19th, a YouGov poll asked 4,071 Americans if they thought Trump was a dictator, to which 41% said yes, 45% said no, and 14% said they weren’t sure. When asked if Zelensky was a dictator, the number was a lot smaller. 

Only 22% of Americans thought Zelensky was a dictator compared to 45% who said he was not and 33% who weren’t sure. Newsweek reported on the polling and provided a bit of context for why some Americans might think Trump is a dictator. 

“Domestically, Trump has enacted a slew of broad reforms through executive actions,” wrote Newsweek's Mandy Taheri. Some Democrats and Trump critics have warned of a looming ‘constitutional crisis,’ accusing Trump of overstepping presidential authority and disregarding legal constraints.”

“Critics have pointed to some of Trump's rhetoric, including a recent post on Truth Social featuring a quote often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, which has led them to label Trump a dictator,” Taheri added. The quote in question was: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” 

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