There was a massive blow up in the oval office today between Trump, Zelensky and JD Vance. The so-called “deal” for the minerals is off and Zelensky ended up leaving the White House. Trump says that he won’t be welcome until he wants peace. By that he means that he won’t be welcome until he’s willing to grovel before him. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
The blow up happened when Vance said Zelensky hasn’t thanked America.
"You've gotta be more thankful" — remarkable scenes out of the White House as Trump and JD Vance team up to do Putin's bidding and demean Zelenskyy pic.twitter.com/wjp8UfqN0G
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 28, 2025
Oh really? Here it is you fucking jackass :
This is how Trump sees it:
Trump didn’t just yell at Zelensky and put on a big show of pretend dominance. It’s clear that he wants to abandon Ukraine, he hasn’t made a secret of it, and he made clear what side he is on today:
Trump to a reporter who asks him about Russia breaking a ceasefire: "What if a bomb drops on your head right now … Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt." pic.twitter.com/7Z1IdNvMcr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 28, 2025
It wasn’t about thanking America. It was about groveling before Dear Leader and licking his boots on national TV. It was a set-up — Vance was primed to make this demand and Trump was prepared to demean and humiliate Zelensky. Unfortunately for them, Zelensky didn’t play along the way they wanted him to.
Keep in mind that the mineral deal he was there to sign was an empty deal that meant nothing. There was no security guarantee and the minerals are worth very little. Zelensky was only going to get a tiny bit of daylight solely on the basis of how eagerly he sucked Trump’s… toes in front of the whole world. It was essentially meaningless.
As I wrote earlier this week, the post war world order is dead and NATO is almost certainly gone for all intents and purposes. . The European countries will now arm up to defend themselves and that may very well be nuclear. Great stuff.
The US is now on the side of the big, autocratic, nationalist countries against the democracies. A world of transaction, drained of values, in which might makes right if you are big and the small are expected to capitulate.
This mirrors how Trump governs at home. If you believe in any values proposition, if you are vulnerable in any way, if you don’t serve a particular interest of his, you aren’t just disposable – you are the enemy.
Capitulation does not work against that mindset. You give a pound of flesh, he will try to take five. You have to know what you stand for and who stands with you. Ukraine and Europe need to determine how they can survive not only without the US, but with the US at best neutral at worst adversarial.
We have switched sides. It’s done. We have to adjust.
By the way, I happened to be doing my monthly hit on Majority Report when this came down today. Yikes: