Trump snubs Ukraine

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 21 September 2016

Being president isn't just fun stuff like swiveling around in the Oval Office chair — it's also meetings, phone calls, and (you guessed it!) more meetings.

In the test run of his presidential mettle this election season, Donald Trump has had quite a few such meetings — including, perhaps most notably, a jaunt down to Mexico City to meet with the Mexican president. But when it comes to face time with foreign leaders, Trump isn't always so generous: He has apparently completely stood up the Ukrainian president.

Trump wouldn't even have had to go very far for a meeting: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week, which is being held at the U.N. headquarters less than two miles from Trump Tower in Manhattan. But despite Trump trying to shake off his rumored affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin — who invaded Ukraine against the United States' wishes in 2014 — these optics don't look good:

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A spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration told Foreign Policy they reached out to both Trump and his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to meet with Poroshenko. According to the official, only Clinton said yes, sitting down with the president on Monday. The Trump campaign did not give a clear answer.Trump's campaign did not provide comment about the so-far snub by the time of publication. But according to the candidate's public schedule, he's already jetted to North Carolina and has plans to be in Ohio and Pennsylvania the rest of the week, not in New York, where the U.N. meeting ends on Sept. 26, the day of the first presidential debate. [Foreign Policy]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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