Ahead of Zelensky’s White House Visit, Some MAGA Cheerleaders, in Turnaround, Emerge as Backers of Ukraine

When President Volodymyr Zelensky meets President Trump at the White House today, the Ukrainian leader will be riding the crest of a wave. On Saturday, Ukraine became the first and only European ally to attack an Iranian ship. At the same time, the MAGA influencer Laura Loomer did an about face on Ukraine, posting a gushing interview with Mr. Zelensky, conducted during a week-long tour of Kyiv.“I’ve come to realize I was bamboozled by Russian propaganda, and I came to believe a lot of untrue things about Ukraine,” Ms. Loomer told Ukraine’s leader in an interview posted on X for her 1.9 million followers. Noting that she learned that one of her great-grandfathers was born at Kyiv in 1895, she marveled: “I went from anti-Ukrainian sentiments to realizing, while in Ukraine: I am Ukrainian. So that’s quite shocking.”Her tour included lunching at a McDonald’s next to a bombed-out subway station, repeatedly running to bomb shelters, interviewing Ukraine’s chief rabbi, and visiting an 11th century monastery burned last month by Russian drones. The ultimate target of Ms. Loomer’s trip, Mr. Trump, posted her Zelensky interview on his own Truth Social account, adding the comment: “Very Good!!!”Another MAGA influencer, Tim Pool, has also switched to calling for Ukraine’s victory over Russia. Over the weekend, he posted to his 2.7 million followers: “Wow, I’m getting a ton of positive press now for having supported Ukraine. AMAZING!”President Trump, right, meets President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office on February 28, 2025. AP/ Mystyslav ChernovThese shifting conservative views on Ukraine make Mr. Zelensky’s visit to Washington today the most propitious one since his disastrous meeting at the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, 18 months ago. In a sign of a turnaround, Mr. Trump now indicates that he thinks that Ukraine has an edge over Russia in the long-running war. After disparaging Ukrainian drone technology, Mr. Trump has given the green light to the Pentagon to negotiate a drone deal with Ukraine.Ukraine will export its state of the art military drones to the Pentagon’s new procurement effort, the Drone Dominance Program. In addition, Ukraine is in advanced talks to build a drone manufacturing facility in America, Mr. Zelensky told Ms. Loomer. Offering bad news to Moscow, Mr. Zelensky said that next year Ukraine will start producing drones with ranges sufficient to fly across the world’s largest country, to the Pacific from Ukraine.On Washington’s political front, all 100 Senators are invited to meet this afternoon with Mr. Zelensky. After the meeting, Senators are expected to advance a sanctions bill designed to hit major buyers of Russian oil — notably Communist China and India — with 100 percent tariffs.This bill advances partially in homage to the late senator, Lindsey Graham. A stalwart supporter of Ukraine, the Republican legislator visited Ukraine 10 times since Mr. Putin launched his assault on Ukraine in February 2022. Graham died July 11, one day after returning from a visit to Ukraine. That trip included a drone factory tour and a meeting with Mr. Zelensky. Today, the Ukrainian president will attend the senator’s memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.Senator Lindsey Graham at Boston, June 13, 2022. AP/Josh ReynoldsIn a White House meeting, Mr. Trump is expected to thank Mr. Zelensky for tangling with Iran. This spring, the American president expressed indignation when European nations declined to join Israel and America in attacking Iran.Bad blood between Ukraine and Iran dates back to 2020 when an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit shot two Russian-made Tor missiles at a fully-loaded Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 that had just taken off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. All 176 occupants were killed.After Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Iran jump-started the Kremlin’s military drone program by selling tens of thousands of Shahed drones to Russia. In a $1 billion deal, Iranian engineers also oversaw the construction of a Shahed factory in Tatarstan, about 900 miles east of Ukraine. Thousands of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members worked in Crimea and other parts of Russia-occupied Ukraine coaching Russian soldiers on the most effective ways to use Shaheds.In this light, Ukraine’s strikes Saturday in the Caspian Sea represent a small escalation. Ukraine rocketed a Russian navy missile boat and two Russia-flag bulk carriers. Mr. Zelensky posted on X: “The ships were involved in transporting military cargo from Iran.” The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, during the NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 at Ankara, Turkey. Serdar Ozsoy/Getty ImagesIn a new step, Ukrainian rockets hit the Anna, an Iranian cargo vessel anchored at the mouth of the Volga River. Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, told Israel’s Channel 12 TV that the ship was carrying components for drones and missile components to Russia from Iran. Iran’s foreign ministry said one Iranian sailor was killed and three others were injured. “A blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war,” Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on X. “What the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED.”An Iranian MP, Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the parliament’s national security committee, threatened Ukraine, saying on X: “Ukraine too will soon realize that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not leave debts unpaid.” A stalwart regime loyalist, Mr.Azizi was linked two months ago to a call for the assassination of Mr. Trump.Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, fired back, posting: “The regime in Teheran is a direct accomplice to Russian aggression against Ukraine, fuelling Moscow’s criminal war with weapons that have killed Ukrainians since 2022. Iran has no standing to pretend to be a victim.”Last Saturday, with the White House visit days away, Mr. Zelensky again banged the anti-Iran drum. “Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there. These images subsequently appear in Iran,” Mr. Zelensky said in his Saturday night address to Ukrainians. “There is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”This was a clear signal to Mr. Trump that Ukraine and America are in the same fight — against Russia. It was also music to the ears of Ms. Loomer, the Trump stalwart visiting Kyiv. She posted: “Ukraine is now killing Iranian Islamic terrorists who are trying to murder U.S. soldiers. Thank you, Ukraine!”

Ahead of Zelensky’s White House Visit, Some MAGA Cheerleaders, in Turnaround, Emerge as Backers of Ukraine

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