Trump intended to humiliate Zelensky live, and he got exactly what he wanted. Zelensky losing it on camera gives Trump the excuse he needs to dump project Ukraine. He can now point how Zelensky refuses to make a deal, that he’s belligerent, and it’s impossible to work with him. From Trump’s perspective this couldn’t have gone better.
The whole thing started with Zelensky’s offhand suggestion of trading Ukrainian minerals for US aid which backfired catastrophically. Trump, ever the opportunist, seized on the proposal like a shark scenting blood. He initially framed it as Ukraine having to hand over minerals for future support, which he quickly turned into a demand for repayment of the $300 billion already spent, retroactively recasting aid as a loan.
By floating the minerals idea, Zelensky handed Trump a rhetorical weapon that let Trump box Ukraine into a lose-lose scenario of either surrendering resources or admitting to owing an unpayable debt. Zelensky got accustomed to Biden’s blank-check diplomacy, and completely misread the room here. Now, Trump has the perfect excuse to cut Ukraine loose.
Amusingly this reminds me of the final days of Saigon. Even as US diplomats packed their briefcases, South Vietnam’s leaders still clung to a delusion that America would never abandon them. They rejected peace talks even as collapse of their regime was increasingly clear, and continued to send their troops to fight. Zelensky made similar mistake of confusing borrowed power for sovereignty. His regime fights a war sustained by foreign arms and rhetoric, but he completely missed the shift in his patron’s priorities. As the US pivots to Asia and Trump aim to normalize relations with Russia, Zelensky doubles down on maximalist demands.
Guy’s been under fire from Russia for three years. Getting yelled at by those two idiots was probably nothing more than a couple of mosquitos in his ear.
Seriously, Z could have probably beaten those two bitches with his fists, If he was allowed.
Trumps’s Blowup with Zelenskiy would be more accurate… Dude was calm af while beeing yelled at by the orange clown about blankets and Hillary
Trump intended to humiliate Zelensky live, and he got exactly what he wanted. Zelensky losing it on camera gives Trump the excuse he needs to dump project Ukraine. He can now point how Zelensky refuses to make a deal, that he’s belligerent, and it’s impossible to work with him. From Trump’s perspective this couldn’t have gone better.
The whole thing started with Zelensky’s offhand suggestion of trading Ukrainian minerals for US aid which backfired catastrophically. Trump, ever the opportunist, seized on the proposal like a shark scenting blood. He initially framed it as Ukraine having to hand over minerals for future support, which he quickly turned into a demand for repayment of the $300 billion already spent, retroactively recasting aid as a loan.
By floating the minerals idea, Zelensky handed Trump a rhetorical weapon that let Trump box Ukraine into a lose-lose scenario of either surrendering resources or admitting to owing an unpayable debt. Zelensky got accustomed to Biden’s blank-check diplomacy, and completely misread the room here. Now, Trump has the perfect excuse to cut Ukraine loose.
Amusingly this reminds me of the final days of Saigon. Even as US diplomats packed their briefcases, South Vietnam’s leaders still clung to a delusion that America would never abandon them. They rejected peace talks even as collapse of their regime was increasingly clear, and continued to send their troops to fight. Zelensky made similar mistake of confusing borrowed power for sovereignty. His regime fights a war sustained by foreign arms and rhetoric, but he completely missed the shift in his patron’s priorities. As the US pivots to Asia and Trump aim to normalize relations with Russia, Zelensky doubles down on maximalist demands.
Guy’s been under fire from Russia for three years. Getting yelled at by those two idiots was probably nothing more than a couple of mosquitos in his ear.
Seriously, Z could have probably beaten those two bitches with his fists, If he was allowed.