Trump Thinks Ukraine Needs a New President. Who Could Replace Zelensky?

Former popular general Zaluzhnyi, alongside intelligence chief Budanov and reformist Fedorov, leads the potential rivals.

KYIV, Ukraine – The White House wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out.

"I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president," US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday.

List of 4 items List 1 of 4 items Trump calls for Ukraine election, says Zelensky failed to end war

List 2 of 4 The Oval Office to Public Blame: Timeline of Trump-Zelensky Relationship

List 3 of 4 Zelensky says Russia violated Trump's energy truce

List 4 of 4 Ukraine's Zelensky accuses Russia of violating Trump's "energy ceasefire."

The end of the list, but Trump's request is not an order to Ukraine.

Although Zelensky's five-year term ends in 2024, Ukraine's constitution and military rule grant him a wartime extension. Many Ukrainians want to reorganize their political system, but are reluctant to hold presidential elections before the end of the four-and-a-half-year war.

In response to Trump's comments, Zelensky suggested a vote if Russian President Vladimir Putin guarantees a 60-day ceasefire.

However, if elections are held in the near future, who could compete with Zelensky?

"If snap elections are held, one of the former military [commanders] is Zelenskiy's most likely challenger," Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevich told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, old political heavyweights such as former President Viktor Poroshenko, who Dadav said would lose the 2019 presidential vote to Zelensky, and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is under investigation for corruption, do not stand a chance.

Valery Zalogeny: "The most likely alternative"

The former senior general and current ambassador of Ukraine to the UK is at the top of Zelenskiy's list of rivals.

"At least from 2023, and especially from 2024, after his resignation, the most likely replacement for Zelensky, his most dangerous rival who could defeat him in the elections, is Valery Zalogeny," Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kiev-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera.

Almost two-thirds of Ukrainians — 64 percent — trust him, and only 25 percent "distrust" him, according to an Oct. 8 poll by Rating Group, a Kiev-based pollster.

This confidence is rooted in his military victories in 2022.

After defending Kiev in the early weeks of a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Zalozhny led a counteroffensive that returned 40 percent of Russian-controlled territory to Ukraine.

He was sacked in 2023 after a long-anticipated summer counterattack failed.

Zalogeny remains a man of mystery on the most pressing post-war issues.

Burly and imposing, the 53-year-old is deliberately taciturn, keeping the public guessing about Ukraine's economic recovery, a crippling demographic crisis or the push to join the European Union.

He does not participate in talk shows, hardly talks to journalists and occasionally publishes his opinion pieces with a detailed analysis of the problems related to the war and general statements about ensuring lasting peace and security guarantees from Ukraine's Western partners.

The former comedian was elected in 2019 with 73 percent of the vote, the highest result in the history of post-Soviet Ukraine.

Despite a series of corruption scandals in his inner circle, the 48-year-old is popular enough to swing another term in office.

More than half of Ukrainians — 53 percent — trust him, though 40 percent do not, according to the Rating Group poll.

However, Trump's renewed hostility may once again work in Zelensky's favor.

After his February 2025 Oval Office clash with Trump, Zelensky's approval rating reached an all-time high of 67 percent.

However, Zelensky may have ruined his chances with his appointment policies.

"He came to power with the slogan of restoring power, choosing the most competent and not the most reliable ministers or advisers," said the analyst Tishkevich.

Kirylo Budanov: More than half of Ukrainians trust him

Lt. Gen. Kyrlov Budanov is the second most popular and charismatic military leader who has a chance to become the president of Ukraine.

The 40-year-old senior military intelligence officer was appointed head of Zelenskiy's government in January.

Budanov has led daring operations against Russia, including an invasion of Russian-annexed Crimea in 2016 to plant explosives at a military airport.

In 2020, Zelensky appointed him as the head of the Ministry's Intelligence Service (GUR), which became a technology-based offensive special forces service.

GUR naval drone strikes damaged Russia's Black Sea fleet, forcing it to withdraw from annexed Crimea to the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

According to the Rating Group survey, 53% of Ukrainians trust Budanov and 31% do not trust him.

At 35, Fedorov is the youngest person on the list of potential presidents. He rose to prominence after appointing Zelenskiy as minister of digital transformation in 2019 and was able to radically simplify bureaucratic procedures in the corruption-ridden country. His ministry launched Diia, a smartphone app that allows users to access more than 100 government services online.

In January, Zelensky appointed Fedorov, who had zero military experience, as defense minister responsible for logistics, budgeting, reforms, anti-corruption measures and deals to secure multibillion-dollar Western aid or loans.

Fedorov cracked down on corruption schemes by making new weapons, food and medical supplies more transparent.

He increased the number of drones that crippled Russian supply routes, destroying weapons and fuel depots, oil refineries, and air defense systems.