In 5 Minutes, Trump Ended a 3-Year War

Zelensky Took a Public Humiliation, but Trump Has Trapped Europe

Oksana Markarova has an extensive background in finance. She spent seventeen years in private investment funds, climbing the ranks to senior management roles. Eventually, she transitioned into politics, joined the Ministry of Finance, was appointed Deputy Minister, and in 2018, became Minister of Finance. Three years later, Markarova made history by becoming Ukraine’s first female ambassador to the United States.

I share all this for one reason: to emphasize that Oksana Markarova is not a theater actress.

With that established, it’s fair to assume that the Ukrainian ambassador’s reaction to the ambush set up in the Oval Office for the president who appointed her was genuine. These were likely not the rehearsed expressions of Ukraine’s version of Meryl Streep. Markarova held her head in her hands, closed her eyes, and turned pale — her reaction captured, in the most human and visceral way, the magnitude of the catastrophe.