Trump Politicking with Zelensky
Why did the Trump-Zelensky meeting turn on its head so quickly? I watched the meeting very carefully and here’s what I think the conversation was between Trump and JD was earlier that day.
“JD, when I say ‘All right, one more question’ we’re going to work together to throw the whole deal. He’ll go back to Europe and all the European countries will say, ‘Oh you didn’t deserve that treatment, we’ll support you and give you money’. And then, eventually we’ll get back in because, I mean, we really do want to hold the line with Russia at this buffer country. But by doing it this way, Putin thinks he has a chance with me and Europe is convinced to put in more money to hold Russia, saving us billions of dollars. And my reputation as a capricious deal maker is maintained.”
Here’s the moment the conversation turns:
The tell for me is that the discussion was going so swimmingly well for most of the meeting. When Zelensky says, “You have nice oceans and don’t feel now but you will feel it in the future.” got Trump very agitated. But that was a call-back from just 10 minutes earlier and wasn’t seen as inflammatory then.
Another related issue: Trump wants America to have more mineral reserves as part of is isolationist/America First/whatever policy. He can get them from Greenland or Ukraine. Which will be easier to get? Buying Greenland or negotiating with Ukraine? I’m guessing taking advantage of war-torn Ukraine will be easier, and he gets 2 birds (buffer country AND minerals) with one stone.
Well, my predictions are doing well so far, I guess. According to the Washington Post, “Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says”
(wow, if only I had written my original article a few days sooner, I’d be seen as an oracle. Though I only now saw this Washington Post article…)
This is a terrible game to play.
I don’t know that we can even give them that much credit for planning. It’s been clear since round one that Trump is aligned with Putin. All of his plans for a peace deal essentially are Ukraine stops fighting against Russia and gives up all the territory they don’t currently hold. Combined with Trump’s desire for accolades, and wanting to “strengthen” the US, there really wasn’t another way it could’ve gone.
One week later, here is the EU, talking about spending more money on defense against Russia in response to Trump backing away from Ukraine.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/06/european-defense-overhaul-trump-putin/
The article starts out: