Wladimir Klitschko and the TV presenter Sandra Maischberger.Screenshot: ard.de
Donald Trump’s speech and the situation in Ukraine were topics on the German talk show “Maischberger”. Former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko chose clear words.
Feb 26, 2026, 4:23 p.mFeb 26, 2026, 4:23 p.m
Daniele Gambone / t-online
Donald Trump’s speech to the nation and the fourth anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine formed the dual focus of the “Maischberger” talk show on Wednesday evening. There was particularly lively debate about the health of American democracy.
guests
- Vladimir KlitschkoUkrainian boxing legend
- Iris Berbenactress
- Sandra Navidi“ntv” financial expert
- Theo Coll“Phoenix” presenter
- Anna Lehmann“taz” journalist
- Marc Felix Serrao“Welt” journalist
Trump’s speech, which not only divides the USA
While the former head of the ZDF capital studio, Theo Koll, the longest address to his own country ever given by a sitting US presidentinterpreted as the expected “show of a narcissist”, the German journalist Anna Lehmann judged the appearance as “bizarre”.
At the event, Trump surrounded himself with “claqueurs,” i.e. appointed applause donors, and pushed forward his plan USA to transform into an autocracy, said the head of the parliamentary office of the daily newspaper “taz”.
“Welt” journalist leans out of the window
Lehmann cited Trump’s ruling by decree, the criminalization of critics and the blatant influence on the actually independent judiciary as clear signs that this process is in full swing.
For “Welt” journalist Marc Felix Serrao, this assessment was clearly too far. Although he diagnosed Trump as having “a move towards authoritarianism”, the separation of powers in the USA is still intact, as the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s customs policy shows, said the political expert at Axel Springer Verlag.
In addition, after his mixed first year in office, Trump could also demonstrate success, despite his low poll numbers. “There have never been as many Americans working as there are now,” emphasized Serrao, also mentioning a historically low murder rate and record highs on the stock markets. The fact that a US president expressly criticizes the country’s highest judges is nothing new. Also Barack Obama have done this in the past.
“ntv” financial expert Sandra Navidi didn’t want to leave it like that. The labor market figures are actually bad. Navidi also described the comparison between Obama’s, in her opinion, justified criticism and Trump’s personal insult to the judges as a “dangerous relativization”.
Financial expert suspects calculation behind Trump chaos
“He is interested in unlimited exercise of his power,” was the clear verdict of the New York-based lawyer. Navidi suspected a clear calculation behind the shock to legal certainty and any predictability, including for investors. “It serves him to create chaos,” she said of Trump. For example, through customs policy, he created a situation in which everyone had to come to him and ask him for exemptions.
For millions of dollars, rich people who sought Trump’s goodwill could book individual or group dinners at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “Politics is being sold, so to speak. Whoever is in the innermost circle of power benefits, and everyone else falls behind,” summarized Navidi.
“We don’t need European or NATO soldiers on our soil, we’ll do the job ourselves.”
Ukraine was only mentioned in passing in Trump’s speech. After four years of war, the distressed country has to contend not only with an implacable enemy in the Kremlin and a particularly harsh winter, but also with dwindling attention to the conflict among its Western partners.
Boxing champion calls for further support for Ukraine
The Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko reported that exhaustion can also be felt among the own population and there are different opinions about what should happen next. “Some just want peace at any price, others don’t want it at all,” said the Kiev mayor’s brother Vitali Klitschko. Despite a certain division that resulted from this, the will of the population was essentially unbroken, the former boxing champion was convinced.
How difficult it must be to maintain confidence in the face of such a long period of suffering was evident from Klitschko’s own words and reactions. When the moderator asked what gave him hope at the moment, the former heavyweight world champion did not find an immediate answer, although he had already given one.
What followed after a noticeably long pause was more like a warning than a reason for optimism. «We are in Berlin“This city knows the Soviet Empire,” Klitschko reminded the presenter and the audience of the once divided metropolis’s experiences with Russian rule.
Klitschko’s warning to Europe
«We Europeans should simply be stronger. And the hope for us in Ukraine is that after four years, hopefully Europe – and the so-called free world, including the United States – will wake up because evil is coming,” demanded Klitschko.
In order to continue to defend European values and stop Russian imperialism, we need support. “We don’t need European or NATO soldiers on our soil, we’ll do the job ourselves, but we need tools to protect ourselves, whether that’s money or weapons,” the ex-boxer continued his appeal.
The Ukrainian judged Trump’s approach of wanting to end the war with a constructive deal to be ineffective. The Russia from Vladimir Putin be destructive and can only be stopped with strength. Everything else – such as negotiations – is perceived as weakness.
Disappointment due to no Taurus delivery
His disappointment that it was under Chancellor Friedrich MerzKlitschko didn’t even try to hide the fact that, contrary to what was announced during his election campaign, Germany did not deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “The promise took place,” said the Ukrainian, “unfortunately nothing came.”
Klitschko also commented on his personal future. A private boxing video he shared recently sparked rumors about a possible return to the ring. “I only have one comeback in my head, just like every Ukrainian and European: the ‘comeback’ of Russian troops back to Russia. There is no other comeback in my emotional state,” the 49-year-old commented on the speculation.