A Political Newcomer Won Ukraine’s Presidential Election on an Anti-Corruption Platform
On April 21, popular comedian and television actor, Volodymyr Zelensky, won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election, earning the support of 73 percent of voters and unseating the incumbent Petro Poroshenko. Mr. Zelensky, who had no prior political experience, told voters a week before his victory: “I’m not a politician. I’m just a simple person who came to break the system.”118 Five years earlier, in late 2013, Ukrainians had gathered in Kyiv and rallied against the corrupt government of former President Viktor Yanukovych, eventually forcing him to flee to the safety of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Mr. Zelensky’s victory in April 2019 reaffirmed the Ukrainian people’s strong desire to overcome an entrenched system of corruption and pursue closer partnership with the West.119
Following the election results, at 4:29 p.m. Eastern Time, President Trump was connected by telephone to President-elect Zelensky and congratulated him “on a job well done … a fantastic election.” He declared, “I have no doubt you will be a fantastic president.”120
According to a call record released publicly by the White House, President Trump did not openly express doubts about the newly-elected leader.121 And contrary to a public readout of the call originally issued by the White House, President Trump did not mention corruption in Ukraine, despite the NSC staff preparing talking points on that topic.122 Indeed, “corruption” was not mentioned once during the April 21 conversation, according to the official call record.123
In the call, President-elect Zelensky lauded President Trump as “a great example” and invited him to visit Ukraine for his upcoming inauguration—a gesture that President Trump called “very nice.”124 President Trump told Mr. Zelensky:
I’ll look into that, and well—give us the date and, at a very minimum, we’ll have a great representative. Or more than one from the United States will be with you on that great day. So, we will have somebody, at a minimum, at a very, very high level, and they will be with you.125
Mr. Zelensky persisted. “Words cannot describe our country,” he went on, “so it would be best for you to see it yourself. So, if you can come, that would be great. So again, I invite you to come.”126President Trump responded, “Well, I agree with you about your country and I look forward to it.”127 In a nod to his past experience working with Ukraine as a businessman, President Trump added, “When I owned Miss Universe … Ukraine was always very well represented.”128
President Trump then invited Mr. Zelensky to the White House to meet, saying: “When you’re settled in and ready, I’d like to invite you to the White House. We’ll have a lot of things to talk about, but we’re with you all the way.” Mr. Zelensky promptly accepted the President’s invitation, adding that the “whole team and I are looking forward to that visit.”129
Mr. Zelensky then reiterated his interest in President Trump attending his inauguration, saying, “it will be absolutely fantastic if you could come and be with us.” President Trump
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