Lee.org

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.