Sawt Falasteen - 'A slap': US Ukrainians stunned by Trump-Zelensky showdown

"I felt that Ukraine was slapped in the face. And I felt that slap. I felt that slap as a Ukrainian American," said St. Mary's priest, Father Richard Jendras.

Jendras learned of the unprecedented Oval Office showdown between visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump as he was leaving his optician.

"When I watched the video, I was absolutely horrified," he said.

"I felt the same way that I had felt three years ago when the invasion happened in Ukraine."

Jendras delivered mass to a congregation of around 40, switching between English and Ukrainian as he delivered a service emphasizing forgiveness ahead of Lent.

Trump's clash with Zelensky has shaken the tightly-knit Ukrainian community in and around Allentown, where many Ukrainians emigrated to work in the steel industry and in textiles.

In the unprecedented public spat Friday, Trump raised his voice repeatedly as he said his Ukrainian counterpart should be more grateful for US aid in the war against the Russian invasion and pressed him to "make a deal" to end the war with Russia.

US Vice President JD Vance also berated Zelensky, calling him "disrespectful."

Zelensky triggered Trump and Vance's ire by questioning whether Russia could be trusted to uphold a truce. Trump has said he trusts his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to "keep his word."

The meltdown resulted in Zelensky leaving the White House without signing a pact on sharing Ukrainian mineral rights as scheduled.

"People have been turning up at my home, on my doorstep," said Jendras wearing black vestments and a Ukraine pin.

"The community is coming out and expressing (itself). I've gotten numerous emails, numerous phone calls here at the church -- people that want to do something now to somehow or other make up for the actions of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance."

- Oval Office 'circus' -

The church is ringed by posters counting the "years of Russia's devastation in Ukraine" as well as commemorating the "fallen defenders" of the conflict.

The father of one of the church's servers joined up to fight. News that he had been killed in Bakhmut reached the US community a few months later, Jendras said.

"Let that be the beginning of our prayer for fasting that hopefully will bring justice and peace, not just to Ukraine, but to each and every one of us in the world," Jendras said in his sermon below the church's dome, intricately painted with Orthodox saints.

Worshipper Maria Norton, 74, said "I'm spiritually uplifted that so many people are appalled" by what happened at the White House.

"(Zelensky) was bullied and set up... they were going to bully him into submission," said Norton, who wore a Ukrainian anchor pendant.

"He's the ultimate diplomat, and they caused him to really raise his voice -- but I'm proud of President Zelensky for standing up for our people and not being bullied by someone like President Trump."

"They made this a circus in the Oval Office. Everybody I've talked to, even Republican Ukrainians, are embarrassed," said Norton, who last visited Ukraine ahead of its independence, travelling to her ancestral village of Boberka near the Polish border.

The community will soon meet with the region's Congressman, Ryan Mackenzie, to discuss the situation, Jendras said. Mackenzie has a delicate reelection battle in 2026 in which every vote will matter.

His fellow Pennsylvania Republican, former Representative Charlie Dent, has been vocal on social media calling the episode "a disgraceful display"

"Total betrayal of Ukraine and contemptible shakedown of a man and country fighting for survival," he wrote on X.

The community was still in shock, Jendras said, and would continue the weekly prayer meetings for Ukraine that started two weeks before Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, rotating between several Ukrainian churches in the region.

"This can't continue. The well-being of Ukraine has ramifications (for) Europe, and that has ramifications that will be felt here in America," said Jendras. "It absolutely will be felt in America."

H.Nasr--SF-PST