(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Zelenskyy Had to Go to the WH, But No Way Was He Going to Win [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-03-01

I’m seeing some commentators blaming Ukrainian President Zelenskyy for the Oval Office blowup yesterday, for example this in Politico by Rachel Bade: Zelenskyy Forgot the First Rule of Dealing With Trump — which is that you have to flatter Trump to get what you want. She also plays down the idea that this was a planned ambush, rather that Trump was hoping to pull off a deal — the mineral rights — that everyone had said was impossible, and she blames Zelenskyy for stating the obvious: that Trump was being misinformed. (At that, he was being generous; Trump wants to be misinformed.)

Let’s put this Zelenskyy blame game to rest. Yes, Zelenskyy walked into a trap. But he had no choice, and he did not set off the trigger. That was going to happen regardless of what he said or did. Here is Heather Cox Richardson:

Today, President Donald Trump ambushed Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in an attack that seemed designed to give the White House an excuse for siding with Russia in its war on Ukraine.

One clear signal for this, she points out, was that Vance was there; vice presidents almost never attend an Oval Office meeting with a foreign leader.

Zelensky maintained his composure and did not rise to the bait, but he did not accept their pro-Russian version of the war. He insisted that it was in fact Russia that invaded Ukraine and is still bombing and killing on a daily basis. His refusal to sit silent and submit meekly to their attack seemed to infuriate them.

Here I must slightly differ with HCR: The Mangled Mussolini and his tame bedbug were infuriated well before Zelenskyy walked into the room — for having had the temerity, the unmitigated gall, the unbelievable chutzpah, to decline to bend the knee to Vladimir Putin. Trump even made this clear later on, when he accused Zelenskyy of “hating Putin” — the man who invaded his country and has killed thousands of civilians and kidnapped thousands more, the man who is systematically destroying his country’s infrastructure — and thus making it more difficult for Trump to get a deal from Putin. Yeah, right.

Back to my point: Zelenskyy had to go to Washington. He had to meet with Trump (though not Vance) in order to get any kind of security guarantee. He had in hand the mineral rights deal that Trump thought he wanted. As has been pointed out, it was a “deal to make a deal” and it’s possible that Trump had figured that out and planned that temper tantrum as a way to get out of signing it.

But even without that part, Trump never had any intention of helping Zelenskyy. Jonathan Chait made that point in the Atlantic yesterday — The Real Reason Trump Berated Zelensky: “He simply likes Vladimir Putin better.”

It was a setup. Trump and Vance appear to have entered the meeting with the intention of berating Zelensky and drawing him into an argument as a pretext for the diplomatic break. Why should anyone have expected anything different? Trump has been regurgitating Russian propaganda, not only regarding Ukraine, since before Zelensky even assumed office. . . . In the past few weeks, Trump has made very little effort to conceal his pro-Russian tilt. He called Zelensky a dictator, and when asked if he would say the same about Putin, refused, insisting, “I don’t use those words lightly.” (No president in American history has used words more lightly than Trump.) He said Ukraine “may be Russian someday” and blamed Ukraine for starting the war. The U.S. even joined Russia, North Korea, and a tiny bloc of Russian allies to vote against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That vote, which took place a few days before Zelenskyy’s arrival in DC, was as clear a signal as any that Trump was not going to be nice to Zelenskyy when they met.

Even [yesterday], Trump’s bullying commenced well before Zelensky had opened his mouth. Trump greeted his counterpart on the White House driveway with condescending mockery. . . .

And to sum up:

Zelensky had no good options at the White House. He walked into an ambush with a president who empathizes with the dictator who wants to seize Ukraine’s territory.

If there is anything to be salvaged from this ongoing shambling catastrophe, it’s that no one can any longer pretend that Trump is anything but a Russian tool. The GOP is trying, but fewer and fewer people are buying it any more. Europe certainly got the message.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/1/2307136/-Zelenskyy-Had-to-Go-to-the-WH-But-No-Way-Was-He-Going-to-Win?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/