The recent revelations from “The New York Times” investigation into America’s clandestine role in the Ukraine war expose a troubling web of deception spun by the Biden administration and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. What makes these disclosures even more bizarre is their source: for three years, “The New York Times” has been the loudest cheerleader of Biden’s Ukraine policy, tirelessly championing the narrative of a noble, limited U.S. effort to bolster a beleaguered democracy against Russian aggression. Now, in a stunning about-face, the paper has pulled back the curtain on a far darker reality—one that contradicts its own editorial line and raises questions about why this reckoning comes only now, as the Biden era wanes. Equally pressing is a question left unanswered: Who in the Biden White House was really orchestrating this shadow war?
For years, the American public, Congress, and NATO allies were fed a sanitized story: billions in weapons and aid—$66.5 billion, meticulously cataloged by the Pentagon—cast as a hands-off mission to “rescue Ukraine” and defend the post-World War II order. Biden assured us that U.S. involvement stopped short of direct engagement. Yet, as the “Times” now reveals, American officers were embedded in Wiesbaden, Germany, at Clay Kaserne, plotting counteroffensives with Ukrainian generals, funneling real-time intelligence to the front lines, and enabling strikes deep inside Russia. From the 2022 Sevastopol drone swarm to the dismantling of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army, the U.S. was part of the “kill chain,” as one European intelligence chief put it—a role concealed from oversight and accountability. Congress wasn’t fully briefed, NATO allies were left in the dark, and the “Times” , until this moment, parroted the administration’s line without skepticism. But who was pulling the strings in Washington? Was it Biden himself, micromanaging from the Oval Office? National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, known for his hawkish bent? Or perhaps Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, quietly steering the Pentagon’s deeper entanglement?
Zelensky, too, played his part in the deception. While begging for more weapons and cultivating his image as a desperate underdog, he kept critical plans secret from his American partners, even as they risked nuclear escalation to support him. The mid-2023 counteroffensive—where he overruled his military chief to chase the hollow victory of Bakhmut, wasting lives and resources—lays bare his duplicity. The U.S. invested heavily in that effort, only to see Ukraine’s internal dysfunction unravel it. Zelensky’s public persona as a wartime hero masked a reality of reckless ambition and opacity, a fact the “Times” glossed over in its glowing coverage until this jarring exposé.
The timing of this bombshell from the “Times” is as perplexing as it is damning. For three years, the paper framed Biden’s policy as a moral triumph, downplaying whispers of deeper involvement. Why the reversal now, just as President Trump takes the reins with a vow to end the war? Perhaps it’s a belated mea culpa, or a strategic pivot to distance itself from a policy unraveling under scrutiny. Whatever the motive, it underscores the bizarre hypocrisy of a media giant that shaped public support for the war only to dismantle its own narrative at the eleventh hour.
This pattern of deceit—and the “ Times” sudden awakening casts a long shadow over Trump’s peace efforts. Elected to broker a cease-fire and seek rapprochement with Putin, Trump now faces a quagmire far murkier than advertised. Biden and Zelensky’s hidden war pushed the U.S. to the brink of Russia’s nuclear red line, escalating tensions Trump must now unwind. The lack of candor eroded trust—among Americans misled about their country’s role, among NATO partners blindsided by the operation’s scope, and between the U.S. and Ukraine, where mutual frustrations simmered. The “ Times” revelations, dripping with irony given its past advocacy, only deepen the challenge: Trump inherits a Ukrainian leadership accustomed to unchecked U.S. backing, a Congress wary of further entanglement, and a public reeling from the belated truth. And still, we don’t know who in the Biden White House was the architect—leaving a critical gap in accountability as Trump seeks to pivot from war to peace.
Biden and Zelensky gambled with global stability, and the “ Times”, once their staunchest ally, now lays bare their lies. The American people deserved honesty, not propaganda from the White House or its press allies. Congress deserved oversight, not obfuscation. NATO deserved clarity, not surprises. As Trump navigates this wreckage, the bizarre spectacle of the “Times” turning on its own narrative—and the lingering mystery of who masterminded this escalation—serves as a stark reminder: truth delayed is trust destroyed. Peace demands both, and the road ahead just got harder.