Crap!  My treatments kept me from getting the breaking news on the mash up in the Oval Office….I apologize for the lateness of my post on the incident….

Friday Zelensky came to DC to meet with Trump and sign a minerals deal in a photo op…..did not end well at all….( I believe this is common knowledge by now)

World leaders typically play nice for the cameras in the Oval Office, but a meeting of President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky turned “remarkably fractious” on Friday, reports the New York Times.

• “You’ve got to be more thankful,” Trump told Zelensky during the exchange, per the Washington Post. “You’re not really in a good position right now. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country—this country.”
• The animosity began after Vance called diplomacy the key to peace, and Zelensky complained about Russian President Vladimir Putin breaking numerous agreements, reports NBC News.
• Zelensky: “He killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners,” Zelensky said of Putin. “What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?”
• Vance: “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President. … I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media right now.” Vance added that Zelensky was conducting a “propaganda tour” and asked, “Have you even said ‘thank you’ once?” per the AP.
• The Times calls the back-and-forth in front of TV cameras “one of the most dramatic moments ever to play out in public in the Oval Office,” underscoring the shift in the US view of Ukraine since Trump took office in January.
• No deal: Zelensky left without signing an expected deal on mineral rights, reports the Hill.
• Watch: See video of the fiery meeting in the Oval Office here.
• The turn: Things began in cordial fashion, but they started getting testy after about 40 minutes when Trump was asked a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports Axios. This devolved into a discussion in which the three men were at times nearly shouting over each other. Zelensky asked for security guarantees from the US, while Trump and Vance said he was in no position to make demands and complained that he wasn’t appreciative enough of US support.
• “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told the Ukraine leader, per the Washington Post. “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.” To which Zelensky said: “Have you ever been to Ukraine? Come once?”
• When Zelensky told Trump the US would feel the repercussions of the war despite the “nice ocean” separating America from the conflict, Trump shot back: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” per Politico. “We’re trying to solve a problem. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good and very strong.”
• Trump also told Zelensky: “You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.” And Zelensky answered: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President.”

I know some just cannot bring themselves to read so this is for those lazy people.

This is the quote that tells me this was an ambush the entire timne….

Following the presser, Trump posted on TruthSocial that the deal was off. “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

This video is the longer version…..for those interested….

Trump did Russia a favor…..

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian prime minister and president and deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, was among those to voice his pleasure. “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” Medvedev wrote on X. “And @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII.'” On Telegram, he also called Zelensky a “cocaine clown” and said, “The ungrateful swine got a hard slap in the face from the owners of the pigsty…That’s a good thing, but not enough.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also took to Telegram: “How Trump and Vance exercised restraint and didn’t punch this scumbag is a miracle of restraint.” And Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of Russia’s senate, said Zelensky only hurt Ukraine with the meeting. “Zelenskyy lost this round with a deafening crash. And he will have to crawl on his knees for the next one.”

I am no fan of Zelensky and have not been kind to him here on IST (use archives to check) but I think he was set up by Trump and it was the theater that Trump wanted not the minerals deal….He, Zelensky, did not deserve the treatment he got publicly…..this sort of thinjg would have been best in private not in front of the cameras…..but what can we expect from a no class Cretan like Trump?

After all what do you think of the meeting and the contentious debate that followed?

Breaking news…..

The White House is considering ending all aid transfers, including weapons, to Ukraine after an Oval Office press conference turned into an argument between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelensky.

According to The Washington Post, “The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks in the Oval Office on Friday and his perceived intransigence in the peace process.”

If the aid is terminated, Ukraine would not receive billions of dollars in weapons from the US, including missiles and ammunition that was approved through the Presidential Drawdown Authority.

The New York Times reported that weapons deliveries to Ukraine have “slowed to a trickle” even before Friday’s heated exchange. However, Trump is now considering cutting off other support to Kiev.

(antiwar.com)

Surely there are some thoughts on this.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”