Trump, apparently realizing his meeing with Zelensky was a diplomatic disaster, tries to change the subject by calling for a ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war

Trump-Zelensky debacle begins on a friendly note (Sky News)

 

Donald Trump apparently is among the politicians who consider yesterday's acrimonious meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to be so badly botched that it could hurt America's standing in the world because it no longer can be trusted to stand by allies. After the meeting, Trump called for an immediate ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war in an apparent attempt to distract attention from the alarmingly fractious meeting. Given the way Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance ganged up on Zelensky he might be reluctant to come to any agreement involving the Trump administration, although Ukraine's leader seems to still want U.S. support.

Associated Press (AP) reports under the headline "Trump calls for ‘ceasefire now’ between Russia and Ukraine":

President Donald Trump said Friday he wants an “immediate ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine and warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make peace or lose American support.

The statement comes after Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting, then abruptly called off the signing of a minerals deal with the U.S.

In a Fox News interview, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.

What to know:

• White House says Zelenskyy was asked to leave: After the contentious meeting the Ukrainian leader made an effort to try to get the visit back on track, according to a White House official. National security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio communicated to the Ukrainians that Trump wanted Zelensky to leave the White House immediately.
• It’s unclear what this means for the war: Hours after their Oval Office meeting, Trump said Zelensky did not seem like a man “that wanted to make peace” but said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, is ready for a peace deal. The astonishing turn of events could scramble international affairs in Europe and around the globe.
• What national and international leaders are saying: In the U.S., Democrats responded overwhelmingly in support of Ukraine. Republicans who have supported Ukraine in the past expressed disappointment but stopped short of criticizing Trump, while those already critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine lauded the president’s strength. Leaders across Europe issued statements, the overwhelming majority of which expressed support for Zelensky and Ukraine.
• U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer maintained his strong support for Ukraine and Zelensky: "“He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine,” the statement said.

• A senior Ukrainian official said Zelenskyy spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and President of the European Council Antonio Costa after he left the White House, describing all the conversations as “supportive” of the Ukrainian leader. The official, who is familiar with the matter, requested anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

  Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni, however, proposed “an immediate summit” between the United States and European allies “to speak frankly about how we intend to face today’s great challenges, starting with Ukraine.” She urged the West to stay united.

  “Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favors those who would like to see the decline of our civilization,” she said. “A division would not benefit anyone.”

  Some posts on X were directed to Zelensky. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him “your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President.”

  And Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, wrote: “Dear Volodymyr @zelenskyyua, we stand with #Ukraine in good and in testing times. We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.”

  The victory for Merz’s party Sunday in Germany’s national election ensured that Ukraine has an even stronger supporter in the European Union’s largest country. Merz during the campaign promised to unite Europe in the face of challenges from both Russia and the United States.

  But Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party and one of Merz’s challengers, wrote “Historic. Trump & Vance!” on X with a link to a video of the meeting. AfD’s platform calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Weidel also met with Vance in Munich.

As Trump and Vance launch an "unconscionable" tag-team attack on Ukraine's Zelensky, observers sense Russia's Putin was the fourth politico in the room

Zelensky squares off with Trump and Vance (AFP)

 

What was the level of outrage in political circles yesterday after Donald Trump and J.D. Vance treated Ukraine's  Volodymyr Zelensky with shocking hostility during a televised meeting in the Oval Office? A former Republican found the scene so distasteful that he called for Trump to be removed from office under the 25th Amendment. Matt Laslo, of Raw Story, reports under the headline "'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight." (Video from the Trump-Vance exchange with Zelensky can be viewed at this link.):

The nation’s capital is reeling from the Oval Office brawl heard round the world but, somewhere, Vladmir Putin’s smiling, according to a former intelligence official.

After President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance tag-teamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on live TV using Russian disinformation as their talking points, it’s become evident that this new White House is compromised, some onlookers suggested.

“The enemy is on the inside,” former Republican Virginia Congressman Denver Riggleman told Raw Story. “There’s so much fear, but we need to overcome that fear now, and the rational, the sane — those who care more about this country than securing mineral rights for their oligarch friends — might be the way we need to go now. This is America. This isn't Russia lite.” 

But with Trump’s aides booting Ukranians from the White House grounds after Vance and Trump piled on Zelensky, critics fear the president is being played by propaganda

With tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk working inside the White House, disinformation is now regularly flowing from the Oval Office, Riggleman said.

“What's happened is that we have such a disinformation and propaganda landscape based on social media and far-right alternative media that there's no way for us to understand how integrated lies are into our policy making,” he said.

What’s so dizzying to Riggleman — an Air Force veteran who went on to be a National Security Agency contractor — is that Ukraine, formally at least, remains an ally, while Russia is, formally, a foe.

After today’s White House meeting blew up, Riggleman says it’s obvious Trump and Vance are going out of their way to appease the Russian strongman.

“They're specifically trying to make Putin happy. It's interesting that the most powerful country in the world is bending the knee to a bare-chested b— horse rider,” Riggleman said. “This is absolutely unconscionable, and, because of his insanity, he should be removed on the 25th Amendment.”

Riggleman apparently had no regrets when he left the Republican Party in 2021, and he likely has no regrets now after seeing Trumpism thoroughly unmasked in front of cameras. Laslo writes:

The exchange makes Riggleman glad he left the Republican Party, but he also thinks it might break MAGA’s grip on some of his former GOP colleagues.

“All of the Republican Congress are cowards and lapdogs, because they value the power of their seat more than the future of this great country,” Riggleman said. “Trump has overplayed his hand for the first time for real when you're talking about what's happening with Ukraine and Russia, and I believe this might break the dam of those who have allowed ignorance and hubris to rule their decision making.”

America’s now on the wrong side, he said.

“It's not just a realignment of interest, it means we've become the baddies,” Riggleman said. “Really, what it comes down to is that, as somebody who is a former Republican, I never thought there would be a day where a Republican administration messages to Russia for their favorable assessment of us. I find it appalling. I find it disgusting.”

This episode is likely to rankle many Trump supporters, Riggleman predicts, especially veterans and active-duty service members.

“For people who fought for this country in so many different ways — real veterans that haven't been radicalized by insanity and conspiracy theories — right now, you're going to see a mobilization of the sane, I think, in a way you've never seen in foreign policy and things of that nature,” Riggleman said.

With the Democratic Party so weak and beleaguered these days, Riggleman thinks this latest Oval Office fight showcases the need for a new, viable third party.

“It’s almost like we have the crazy and the coward party, and I think we now need to understand, and we need to build a third way,” Riggleman told Raw Story. “I just don't see how a two-party system survives in a social media, data-manipulated ecosystem.

Riggleman was not the only person with rightward leanings who was appalled by yesterday's images from the White House. In a separate piece, Raw Story's Erik De La Garza reports under the headline "'Disturbing': Conservative editorial board 'shocked' by Trump's 'unimaginable' behavior": 

The editorial board at the conservative National Review joined the chorus of political observers stunned over the explosive White House showdown President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance subjected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to on Friday.

Referring to the tense moment as an “ugly Oval Office spat,” the editorial board came out to publicly slam the blowup that unfolded in front of the international media after Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of not being “thankful enough” to the new MAGA administration.

“They belittled his country’s position in the war, called him an ingrate, and made open threats about abandoning his country,” the conservative board, comprised of the Review’s senior editorial staff, told readers. “This was shocking behavior, especially when it is unimaginable that they’d ever dare treat Vladimir Putin in a similar fashion.”

The opinion piece went on to criticize the Trump administration’s sudden shift on Ukraine, and called Zelensky’s desire for guarantees involving Russian aggression down the road “not only an understandable concern, but one that it is in our interest to address.”

However, despite “Trump’s ego and Vance’s hostility,” the board still believes it was Zelensky’s “diplomatic failure” to “get sucked into making argumentative points” to begin with – the downside of which was “enormous.”

“One hopes that this doesn’t represent a fundamental breach in U.S.-Ukrainian relations,” the board concluded, adding that with “President Trump, blowups can happen quickly, but so can reconciliations.”

“Regardless, the episode is a disturbing reflection of the resentment the president feels toward a partner whose fundamental offense is wanting to defend itself and regain its sovereign territory,” according to the editors.

They finished with a well-known saying – “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” – a longtime adage the board said, “shouldn’t mean kicking your friend to the curb.”

Current Republican lawmakers expressed disgust with what they saw. Carl Gibson, of AlterNet, reports under the headline "'Reckless rhetoric and behavior': GOP lawmakers unleash on Trump over Zelenskyy meeting":

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance's combative meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has apparently put the administration at odds with several Republicans in Congress.

The Daily Beast reported Friday that the meeting — which ended with Zelensky leaving the White House without signing the rare earth minerals agreement he had traveled to Washington to finalize — was alarming to swing-district Republicans like Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who both publicly called out the president's failure to assure a major U.S. ally that it could count on America's support.

"Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law,” said Bacon, who called the meeting "a bad day for America's foreign policy."

“It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values," he added. "We should be clear that we stand for freedom.”

Trump pushed Zelenskyy to accept "peace," though Zelenskyy insisted that he needed "guarantees" for its security amid its ongoing war with Russia. Vice President JD Vance interjected at one point, accusing Zelensky of not showing proper gratitude for the United States' past support and for "campaigning for the opposition" during the 2024 election. The White House eventually issued a statement saying that Zelenskyy was asked to leave and was not welcome to return.

"It was heartbreaking to witness the turn of events that transpired in today’s meeting regarding Ukraine’s future. It is time to put understandable emotions aside and come back to the negotiation table," Fitzpatick said. "This can and will be fixed. A strong, sovereign Ukraine is essential for global stability in the face of Putin’s ongoing aggression."

One House Republican anonymously confided to the Beast that the meeting was "a missed opportunity for both Ukraine and the United States and a big win for Vladimir Putin." And another GOP lawmaker given anonymity to speak candidly told the outlet: "This kind of reckless rhetoric and behavior from Trump and Vance is only making the world more dangerous and unstable.”