It was a spectacle never before performed by an American President and Vice President on live television and in front of the White House press corps. It was a childish tantrum in which President Trump and Vice President Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “Either you make a deal or we are out,” Trump fumed.
Or, to paraphrase: You (Ukraine) surrender what Putin has taken from you, or you are on your own. It was a breathtaking display of boorishness and arrogance. Ironically, the meeting started somewhat normally. It was when Vance, essentially, called Zelensky “ungrateful” and complained that he hadn’t heard the Ukrainian President say “thank you” that things rapidly deteriorated into chaos, with President Trump unceremoniously canceling a planned lunch with Zelensky and showing him the door instead. All in all, it was amateur day at the White House, and a shameful and embarrassing fiasco played out in front of the entire world.
Within minutes, reports of world leaders expressing support for Zelensky and Ukraine erupted across Europe. Putin, however, must have been ecstatic as White House support for Zelensky and Ukraine seemed, for the moment, to have deteriorated to a state of extremis. The bomb J.D. Vance tossed had hit its mark.
Trump’s decision to conduct the meeting publicly and in front of the white house press corps was simply bad judgment. The invited press only added to the spectacle, given the impertinent and absurd question hurled at Zelensky by Brian Glenn of the right-wing Real America’s Voice. “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re in the highest level of this country’s office and refuse to wear a suit? I just want to see, do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you respecting this office.” One suspects many Americans probably have a greater problem with the crass arrogance of journalists like Brian Glenn. But I digress.
John Bolton, who served as Trump’s first National Security Adviser, said that Trump and Vance showed they are siding with Russia. He called it a “catastrophic mistake.”
“Trump and Vance have declared themselves to be on Russia’s side in the Russo-Ukraine war. This is a catastrophic mistake for America’s national security,” he said. “And let’s be clear: Trump and Vance now personally own that policy. It is not the view of most Americans of either/or no political party,” Bolton continued.
No one should lose sight of the only relevant fact regarding the war in Ukraine. Putin invaded Ukraine because Ukraine, under Zelensky, was looking westward. Ukraine saw its future more aligned with the democratic regimes of Western Europe than the brutal totalitarian example of Putin’s Russia. Ukraine had already experienced Putin’s grab of Crimea and has chosen to fight to keep the rest of the country free. The cost in lives, however, has been enormous.
The Wall Street Journal reported a year ago that, according to a leaked Ukrainian assessment, 80,000 Ukrainian fighters had been killed, and an estimated 400,000 had been wounded. Losses on the Russian side have been even higher, with an estimated 800,000 Russian fighters having been either killed or severely wounded, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
President Trump seems not to relate to President Zelensky at all, certainly not nearly as much as he relates to President Putin. Consider the Trump-directed vote at the United Nations last week. At Trump’s direction, America voted with Russia and North Korea against a vote condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. Trump could have had the United States abstain if he felt it would make negotiating with Russia easier regarding the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead, he joined with Russia and North Korea and a gaggle of other nations that chose not to antagonize Russia over Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian journalist Anna Neplii, Russia has a long history of entering into agreements with neighboring countries to achieve short-term gains, after which Russia pockets the gains and then abandons the agreements.
Neplii cites, as an example, the Treaty of Riga, in which, in 1921, Russia and Poland divided Ukrainian and Belarusian lands following Poland’s defeat of the Bolsheviks. Barely a decade later, in 1932, Russia and Poland signed a so-called Non-Aggression Pact. Russia then turned around in 1939 and signed with Nazi Germany the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact which secretly planned a division of Europe. At the start of World War II on September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland, and on September 17, Russian troops followed. Russia justified its invasion of Poland by insisting that Poland no longer existed. Following the war, Stalin formally annexed Poland and installed his puppet government there. These were brutal times, and Russia took a back seat to no other country when it came to brutality. For example, when Russia occupied Poland, Stalin executed nearly 22,000 Polish POWs in Poland’s Katyn Forest.
Russia then quickly turned its sights on Finland. One could write several books about Finland’s struggles with Russia over the years and during the Second World War. For this column, I’ll note that Finland ceded considerable territory to Russia following the War, along with 300 million dollars.
Since the dawn of the twentieth century, America has played an ever-growing role in world affairs. American Presidents, far more often than not, have had a strong sense of where American interests are best served.
America has entered into many agreements with other nations, and we have generally adhered to them. Russia has also entered into many agreements with various nations, but Russia’s track record for adhering to those agreements is abysmal. To Russia, agreements with other countries are essentially transitory. And just as tactics change as circumstances change, Russia’s commitments to agreements it has made are entirely transitory.
According to Ukrainian journalist Anna Neplii, who writes for the Kyiv Post, Russia has, throughout its history, viewed agreements with other nations as a short-term tactic to achieve long-lasting objectives. Today, Russia violates its agreements with abandon whenever it serves Putin’s interest to abandon them, she said.
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Recent podcasts have featured my commentary on Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor,” as well as my commentaries regarding:
U.S. Representative Jim Jordan,
Brian Kemp and Those Republicans of Georgia,
The Trump Indictments,
The Fox Corp Settlement,
The CNN Trump Town Hall,
The Hunter Biden plea deal,
The New American Cult of Personality,
and my interviews with William Bratton, Retired Chief of Police in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston;
Rikki Klieman, Attorney, Network News Analyst, and best-selling author;
John Thoresen, Executive Director, Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center;
Katherine Gehl, co-author of The Politics Industry and founder of the Institute for Political Innovation;
I saw it from a different viewpoint… and, was very disappointed that Zelensky showed lack of respect for the White House and our leaders … a t-shirt? Please. I support Ukraine but thinking it needs a better leader. Some would say the same about us…
I saw it from a different viewpoint… and, was very disappointed that Zelensky showed lack of respect for the White House and our leaders … a t-shirt? Please. I support Ukraine but thinking it needs a better leader. Some would say the same about us…
Well said Hal