"We're Fighting Against a Dictator Supported by a Traitor"

French Lawmaker Blasts Trump Regime

In a scathing and vividly metaphorical speech, French Senator Claude Malhuret delivered a blistering critique of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the chaos he perceives in Washington’s current leadership.

Comparing Trump to an "incendiary emperor" and Musk to a "jester high on ketamine," Malhuret warned of the growing instability their influence poses to global affairs—particularly in the context of Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russian aggression.

His remarks, laden with sharp wit and historical references, paint a vivid picture of a world grappling with leaders who, in his words, have abandoned responsibility for spectacle.

Below is the full translation of Malhuret's speech, which has sparked international discussion and debate.

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Mr. President,
Mr. Prime Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers,
My dear Colleagues,

Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is faltering, Ukraine risks being abandoned, and Russia is being strengthened.

Washington has become Nero’s court—a pyromaniac emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester on ketamine tasked with purging the civil service.

This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is clear: being his ally is pointless because he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies, and he will threaten to seize your territories while supporting the dictators who invade you.

The "king of the deal" is showing what the art of the deal looks like when done on one’s knees. He thinks he will intimidate China by bowing to Putin, but Xi Jinping, witnessing such a collapse, is likely accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.

Never in history has a U.S. president capitulated to an enemy. Never has one supported an aggressor against an ally. Never has one trampled on the U.S. Constitution, issued so many illegal decrees, dismissed judges who could stop him, fired the entire military leadership in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media.

This is not an illiberal drift; it is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Let us remember that it took only one month, three weeks, and two days to dismantle the Weimar Republic and its Constitution.

I have faith in the resilience of American democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in just one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his previous presidency. We were at war with a dictator; now we are fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor.

Eight days ago, at the very moment Trump was patting Macron on the back at the White House, the United States voted at the UN alongside Russia and North Korea against the Europeans, who were demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Two days later, in the Oval Office, the draft-dodger lectured the war hero Zelensky on morality and strategy before dismissing him like a stable boy, ordering him to submit or step down.

Last night, he took another step into infamy by halting the delivery of promised weapons. What should we do in the face of this betrayal? The answer is simple: stand firm.

And first, let us not be mistaken. Ukraine’s defeat would be Europe’s defeat. The Baltic States, Georgia, and Moldova are already on the list. Putin’s goal is a return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin.

The countries of the Global South are watching the outcome of this conflict to decide whether they should continue respecting Europe or if they are now free to trample on it.

What Putin wants is the end of the order established by the United States and its allies 80 years ago, with its first principle being the prohibition of acquiring territory by force.

This idea is at the very foundation of the UN, where today the Americans vote in favor of the aggressor and against the victim because Trump’s vision aligns with Putin’s: a return to spheres of influence, where great powers dictate the fate of smaller nations.

To me, Greenland, Panama, and Canada; to you, Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Eastern Europe; to him, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

In the oligarch soirées [gatherings] of Mar-a-Lago, they call this "diplomatic realism.

"We are therefore alone. But the narrative that we cannot resist Putin is false. Contrary to Kremlin propaganda, Russia is struggling. In three years, the so-called second army in the world has managed to seize only scraps of a country with a population three times smaller.

Interest rates at 25%, the collapse of foreign currency and gold reserves, and demographic decline show that Russia is on the brink. The American boost to Putin is the greatest strategic mistake ever made during a war.

The shock is severe, but it has a silver lining. Europeans are waking up from denial. They understood in a single day in Munich that Ukraine’s survival and Europe’s future are in their hands, and they have three imperatives.

First, accelerate military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the American abandonment, to ensure Ukraine holds on, and, of course, to secure Europe’s presence in any negotiations.

This will be costly. We must end the taboo of using frozen Russian assets. We must bypass Moscow’s accomplices within Europe itself through a coalition of willing countries, including, of course, the United Kingdom.

Second, demand that any agreement includes the return of kidnapped children, prisoners, and absolute security guarantees. After Budapest, Georgia, and Minsk, we know the value of agreements with Putin. These guarantees require a sufficient military force to prevent another invasion.

Finally, and most urgently, because it will take the most time, we must build the European defense that has been neglected in favor of the American umbrella since 1945 and dismantled since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

This is a Herculean task, but it is on its success or failure that today’s democratic European leaders will be judged in the history books.

Friedrich Merz [a German politician projected to become the country's next Chancellor] recently declared that Europe needs its own military alliance. This is an acknowledgment that France has been right for decades in advocating for strategic autonomy.

It remains to be built. Massive investments will be required, the European Defense Fund must be strengthened outside the Maastricht debt criteria, weapons and ammunition systems must be harmonized, Ukraine’s accession to the Union must be accelerated—Ukraine is now Europe’s largest army—and the role and conditions of nuclear deterrence must be reconsidered based on French and British capabilities. Missile shield and satellite programs must be relaunched.

The plan announced yesterday by Ursula von der Leyen is an excellent starting point. But much more will be needed.

Europe will only become a military power again by becoming an industrial power again. In short, the Draghi report must be implemented—for real this time.

But the true rearmament of Europe is its moral rearmament.

We must convince public opinion in the face of war fatigue and fear, and especially in the face of Putin’s accomplices—the far-right and far-left.Yesterday, in the National Assembly, Mr. Prime Minister, they once again argued against European unity and defense.

They claim to want peace. What neither they nor Trump admit is that their peace is capitulation—the peace of defeat, the replacement of Zelensky with a Ukrainian Pétain under Putin’s control.

It is the peace of collaborators who, for three years, have refused any aid to the Ukrainians.

Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great. But in recent days, the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the reckless decisions made over the past month have finally provoked a reaction from Americans.

Polls are plummeting. Republican lawmakers are being met with hostile crowds in their districts. Even Fox News is becoming critical.

The Trumpists are no longer in their glory. They control the executive, Congress, the Supreme Court, and social media.

But in American history, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed. They are beginning to rise again.

The fate of Ukraine is being decided in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the United States who want to defend democracy, and here, on our ability to unite Europeans, find the means for their common defense, and restore Europe to the power it once was in history and hesitates to become again.

Our parents defeated fascism and communism at the cost of every sacrifice.

The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.

Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe.

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