Trump Publicly Calls on Ukraine to 'Change President': Washington's Pressure on Kyiv's Political Sovereignty and the Roster of Alternative Candidates

According to Al Jazeera, US President Trump publicly stated last Saturday that "it is time for Ukraine to get a new president," while accusing the Zelensky side of continued strikes on Russian refineries for "harming global diesel supply."

This statement represents the latest escalation in Washington's pressure on Kyiv's political trajectory. Although Zelensky's five-year presidential term expired in 2024, the Ukrainian constitution and martial law allow him to continue serving during wartime. An Al Jazeera analysis pointed out a basic fact: "Trump's wishes are not Ukraine's orders" — many Ukrainians want the political landscape refreshed, but are unwilling to hold a presidential election before the war ends.

Faced with pressure from the White House, Zelensky responded by proposing a deal: if Russian President Putin guarantees a 60-day ceasefire, Ukraine could hold elections. The proposal ties the election issue to the ceasefire process, serving both as a counter to Trump's pressure and as an attempt to establish legitimacy prerequisites for voting under wartime conditions.

However, the very discourse of "changing the president" reveals direct US intervention in Ukraine's political sovereignty — Washington is openly demanding that a country at war and dependent on American military aid replace its elected leader. The reason Trump gave — that strikes on Russian refineries "harmed global diesel supply" — anchors the contest over Ukraine's political future in energy prices, a concern of Western consumers, rather than in Ukraine's own strategic interests. This logic is consistent with the various restrictions the US side has previously placed on long-range strike capabilities on the Russo-Ukrainian battlefield: Kyiv's military options must be subordinated to global market prices.

According to Al Jazeera, citing Kyiv analyst Ihar Tyshkevich: "If elections are held quickly, one of the former military commanders is Zelensky's most likely opponent." Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the political research outfit Penta, was more definitive: "At least since 2023, and especially since his 2024 resignation, Zaluzhny has been Zelensky's most likely replacement — the most dangerous rival capable of defeating him in an election."

The Political Landscape of Alternatives

Among the roster of potential challengers, former commander-in-chief of the armed forces and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhny, leads by a wide margin. According to an October 8 poll by the Kyiv-based Rating Group, 64% of Ukrainians trust Zaluzhny, with only 25% expressing distrust. This trust is rooted in his military achievements: defending Kyiv at the outset of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 and leading a counteroffensive that recaptured 40% of the occupied territory. Zaluzhny was dismissed in 2023 after a widely anticipated counteroffensive failed to deliver, but his political positions on key issues such as post-war reconstruction and EU accession have remained "shrouded in mystery" — in Al Jazeera's characterization, the 53-year-old general "deliberately maintains silence," occasionally issuing only generic statements about "lasting peace and security guarantees."

In second place is Kyrylo Budanov, who came out of the military intelligence system — at 40 years old, he took over the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR) in 2020 and transformed it into a technology-driven special force; his unmanned boat attacks forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to retreat from Crimea to the port of Novorossiysk. Al Jazeera disclosed that in 2016, Budanov led a team deep into Russian-occupied Crimea to plant explosive devices at a military airfield. In January this year, he was appointed head of the Office of the President. He likewise enjoys a public trust rating of 53%, with distrust at 31%.

The third notable potential challenger is 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov — Zelensky's digital transformation minister appointed in 2019, who was named defense minister earlier this year despite having no military background, in charge of logistics, budget, reform, and military aid negotiations with the West. Fedorov earned his reputation by boosting transparency in military procurement and dramatically increasing drone production — the very measures that paralyzed Russian military logistics lines and struck at its air defense systems and energy facilities. But reportedly, Fedorov's reforms angered de facto commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky, who reportedly pushed for his dismissal in July. His support rating once jumped from 38% in June to 65% in July amid public protests, but fell to 38% in August after he made remarks supporting holding a presidential election as soon as possible.

Yevhen Khmara, who replaced Fedorov as defense minister, is a professional intelligence officer; 43% of respondents said they did not know him, with a trust rating of 29%. Next in line are Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha — a career diplomat who played a role in winning support from Turkey and Poland — and former president Viktor Poroshenko, both with trust ratings of 24%; Poroshenko's distrust rating soars to 70% due to suspected corruption in military spare parts procurement.

Zelensky's Political Predicament

Setting Poroshenko aside, Zelensky, who once won election with 73% of the vote — a post-Soviet Ukrainian record — remains mired in a series of corruption scandals yet still holds a trust level of 53% (with distrust at 40%). According to Rating Group polls, the confrontation between Trump and Zelensky may in fact end up helping the latter again: after the two clashed publicly in the Oval Office in February 2025, Zelensky's approval rating briefly climbed to a wartime peak of 67%. This recurring pattern — "US pressure ends up reinforcing the Ukrainian leader's domestic legitimacy" — reveals the persistent structural tension between Kyiv's political autonomy and Washington's wishes.

Trump's latest call and the roster of competitors that has surfaced as a result may further reshape this balance. But the holding of elections themselves still depends on the course of the war, and on whether Putin will accept the ceasefire precondition Zelensky has put forward — a card that the Ukrainian side is struggling to maintain amid pressure from Washington and Moscow's offensive.