Barbra Streisand accuses Trump of sympathies towards Putin and a senseless war with Iran

Criticism of US military policy

Famous American actress and singer Barbra Streisand, whose paternal ancestors emigrated to the US from Ukrainian lands, published a sharp critical statement addressed to US President Donald Trump. The artist expressed dissatisfaction with his infatuation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and questioned the motives behind the military campaign against Iran launched by Washington.

In a short message on the social network Threads, Streisand mentioned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She hinted that military actions against Iran could be linked to the personal sympathies of the American president towards the head of the Kremlin.

"Трамп настільки захоплюється Путіним, навіть після його вторгнення в демократичну Україну. Чи саме тому він розпочав цю безглузду війну з Іраном?" – написала артистка. ("Trump is so infatuated with Putin, even after his invasion of democratic Ukraine. Is that exactly why he started this senseless war with Iran?" – the artist wrote.)

Reaction from netizens

Streisand's post sparked an active discussion in the comments. Some users joined the criticism of the US president, accusing him of playing into Russia's interests. One commenter drew attention to the economic aspect of the conflict in the Middle East: according to him, the war affected global oil prices, which are one of the main sources of revenue for the Russian budget. The user believes that the rise in energy prices could have helped the Russian economy, and the subsequent easing of restrictions on the sale of Russian oil only intensified this effect.

Other commentators spoke even more harshly. One called Trump a "heartless person and a sadist", another called the US president a traitor, and a third called for the entire administration to be imprisoned for what they had done.

There were also suggestions online that the war with Iran could have become a tool to divert public attention from the scandal surrounding the documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Some users supported Streisand's thesis that Trump may be seeking to emulate Putin's style of governance. "Безумовно! На 100 відсотків він обожнює Путіна і хоче стати таким самим диктатором, як він", – ствердив один із них. ("Absolutely! He is 100 percent obsessed with Putin and wants to become the same kind of dictator as him," one of them stated.)

Star's support for Ukraine

This is not the first time Barbra Streisand has publicly expressed support for Ukraine. The artist's family origins are linked to the city of Berezhany in Ternopil Oblast.

On 24 February 2022, the day the full-scale Russian invasion began, Streisand condemned the military aggression and Kremlin propaganda. She wrote that her heart was breaking for the Ukrainians standing up to Russian aggression, and called the statements about the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine the biggest lie of the century.

Later, Barbra Streisand became an ambassador for the UNITED24 fundraising platform, created to raise funds to support Ukraine, and held a conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.