It’s a commonplace bordering on cliché to lament that Truth is “the first casualty of War.” Yet in the battle of words between Presidents Trump and Zelensky the press has been quick to accuse America’s commander in chief of peddling lies. These columns don’t intend to go into the fact-checking business, which is too often warped by partisan bias. At the same time, one can acknowledge some of Mr. Trump’s concerns without losing sight of the war’s moral stakes.

The feud erupted between the two presidents Tuesday with Mr. Trump scolding Ukraine’s leaders for their apparent bungling in the leadup to the Russian invasion. “You should have never started it,” Mr. Trump declared. “You could have made a deal.” The invasion by Russia in February 2022 is not in dispute. Yet Mr. Trump’s remarks are of a piece with his assessment of what he called at that time a “very sad thing for the world and the country.”