Everything has already been said about Donald Trump. Cruelty without limits. Ego without restraint. Greed without shame. We can repeat it again and again and it will always be insufficient, because what he represents keeps exceeding language.
But today I want to say something with sadness, not anger. Sadness for the American people who wake up every day knowing that that man is the president of their country. Sadness for what it means to see someone like that standing in front of a nation that has given so much to the world.
This feeling is not to soften or to excuse anything, it is about refusing a dangerous mistake: the mistake of confusing a man with a country. Because over all this time, I have learned something very different about Americans. I have learned your strength and your kindness.
I notice the way that you show up for others. I have seen a people who rebuild after hurricanes, who endure fires and floods, who keep working, caring, showing up when the pressure never seems to stop.
I see a complex country always under strain, independent of who sits in the Oval Office, held together by brave citizens who keep things moving when institutions wobble.
But in the middle of all that, that man stands as if he reflects the values and the dignity of millions who have nothing in common with him. That is profoundly unfair.
No society is flawless. Ukraine is not perfect either. We have our own failures too, a lot of them, But inside those imperfections, what matters most is the people. And what I have discovered here, again and again, is the value of the people of the United States of America.
In this space called Substack, I have met Americans who write to me with a depth of empathy I never imagined possible. Words sent late at night or early in the morning.
People who feel deeply, people who keep caring at those times when caring surely begins to exhaust them. Many of you look at Ukraine and think that if we can stand for four years against Putin, then you can stand through this as well. If we can endure missiles, blackouts, loss, and fear, then you can endure this slow suffocation of democracy.
That comparison humbles me. Millions of you did not choose to be represented by a man who disgraces justice daily, just as Ukraine did not choose this war. In both places, entire populations are forced to live inside consequences created by a small man obsessed with power. You protest in the cold, you keep speaking when it is risky, you keep going when hope becomes apparently out of reach. That is the definition of moral endurance.
So if you are not from the United States, I ask you something: please do not allow yourself to confuse a country with the man who temporarily leads it.
This moment does not define America. It reflects only a tiny part of its population, not its soul. Donald Trump is not the United States. He is not its people. He is not its values. He is not their long history of struggle against injustice. A man like him could have emerged in many countries. Every nation has its share of cruel people living among a far larger number of decent ones. That does not make cruelty the identity of a country, because what matters is where the weight truly lies.
To my American friends, I want you to know this: I feel your tears and your indignation. I know many of you feel ashamed, though you should not. I know some of you feel judged by the world for something you did not choose. Please hear me: we know the difference.
This chapter of politics will pass. Systems built on cruelty always collapse under their own weight. That man feeds on outrage and noise. He pretends to be untouchable because attention is his oxygen. But he is not all powerful. He shouts because he knows it. Accountability has a way of catching up, no matter how fast someone tries to run from it. Until then, hold on to each other. Do not let him steal your humanity. Do not let him convince you that you are alone. You are not. Some of us are far away. Some of us live under different dangers. But we recognize you, we stand with you.
And we will never mistake you for him.
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