We all know that protonmail is a business, right? Like, they have staff, and assets, and they're subject to laws in at least the jurisdictions where they do business. We all know that, right?

If a court in one of those jurisdictions orders them to hand over some information, they have no choice but to do so. They might choose to fight that order, but even that is way beyond what you can expect from them. And if the court doesn't change it's mind, they still have no choice but to comply. The other option is a crime, and there's absolutely no way they're going to commit crimes to protect their $5/mo customers.

I'm not sure what anyone wants from them, in this case. What do you think they should have done differently?

I mean, if we want them to do more, the kind of thing we can reasonably ask of them is to advocate for their country to diplomaticlly protect them and the rest of their citizens from the US government.