Trump/Zelensky interview in the White House

Rosie51

Thank you for that link MayBee70. The voice of reason, oh that there were more raised voices speaking to truth!

The problem with the truth is that it often requires a little more effort and concentration than listening to dog-whistle sound-bites, and frequently contains facts and figures which don't have the same 'appeal'.

A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on

A very insightful remark.

As Jonathan Swift wrote in 1710:

Besides, as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believed only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no further occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect

Maybee. Thanks for the link:

Here's the text from the "Mooch's" tweet:

Here is a recap of the Ukraine situation, for those choosing to reject propaganda and continue seeking truth:

December 1994, Ukraine agrees to give up its nuclear arsenal in return for security guarantees from the US, UK, France, China and Russia.

February 2014, Russia invades and subsequently annexes Crimea, President Obama does next to nothing. War through weakness.

July 2019, Trump admin withholds $250 million in military aid to Ukraine to apply pressure to investigate alleged corruption by Hunter and Joe Biden.

February 2022, Russia invades a weakened Ukraine, world expects Zelenskyy to flee and Kyiv to fall within days. Ukrainians fight bravely for 3+ years, inflict hundreds of thousands of casualties on Russian army, weaken Putin politically.

U.S. has sent ~$70 billion in outdated military equipment to Ukraine since start of war, providing opportunity for U.S. military to modernize its weaponry. We’ve sent an additional $30+ billion in budget support, $75 billion in ancillary appropriations related to war.

~50,000 Ukrainians have died defending their homeland, protecting U.S. and Western interests in the process. Meanwhile, the U.S. President and V.P. are calling democratically-elected Zelenskyy a dictator and berating him in Oval Office in pursuit of a financial payoff.

The U.S. should be thanking Ukrainians, who have fought for our common interests with only modest financial support from a country with a ~$30 trillion GDP.

America can and will reclaim its backbone again soon, with better policy and messaging from common sense moderates.

Slava Ukraina.

CNN has a timeline reporting as developments occur.

edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-zelensky-ukraine-news-03-01-25/index.html

Heated White House meeting:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says it’s “crucial” for Ukraine to have President Donald Trump’s backing and expressed his gratitude to the US on Saturday, a day after Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him in the Oval Office. Zelensky also said Kyiv is ready to sign the minerals agreement he had traveled to the US to hammer out before the highly public diplomatic breakdown"

However:

He said that Ukraine is ready to sign the minerals agreement that he had traveled to the US to hammer out, but noted that “it’s not enough

We need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine. We’ve been fighting for three years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side,” Zelensky said

Allies back Zelensky: Western leaders scrambled to support Ukraine after the exchange deepened the fault lines between Washington and many of its traditional European allies. Zelensky will meet today with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as Trump’s push for a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin has left Europe sidelined.

Tomorrow Sunday “is expected to meet with a host of European leaders at a summit on Sunday, where they will discuss support for Kyiv.”

A question, from a man with spray tan orange skin and a red maga hat
That did make me laugh
(Although the incident isn't funny)

mamaa

When I watched the full vid of this debacle earlier today, it seemed to me that Trump used a softly, softly very friendly approach towards Zelenskyy to begin with- Vance said nothing and all in the room seemed to be listening.
Trump then changed tack opened the meeting up to questions from the room and the atmosphere in the Oval office seemed to change immediately.

Willow Do you think the question about Zelenskyy not wearing a suit was a plant? His answer seemed prickly compared to how he’d been before.

The whole meeting seemed to degenerate after that with all the shouting and talking over one another; Vance was like a dog with a bone- just wouldn’t let up hence I think the reason Zelenskyy lost his cool and swore at him, maybe he realised/ thought he’d been set up?
Interestingly as many of the digs from Vance were repeatedly about him not being thankful for Americas help, Zelenskyy seems to have gone out of his way today, to thank individually all those countries who have pledged to stand by Ukraine- few more cages being rattled Stateside now maybe, although it won’t stop Trump from enjoying his golf this weekend, will it?

A question, from a man with spray tan orange skin and a red maga hat, about style of dress? Ludicrous at best - rude and goading.

The fact that Trump made a comment about Zelensky's attire before the press conference shows that Brian Glenn's question was set up.

Excuse typos. For some reason I can't see the whole message box, only a couple of lines of my post at a time.

Another poster mentioned that Trump was annoyed at Mr Zelenzyy's lack of formal dress at the White House.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was advised to wear a suit to the White House and Donald Trump was offended when he didn't, according to reports.
As Mr Trump shook Mr Zelenskyy's hand at the entrance to the West Wing, he said: "He is all dressed up today."
Then, during the disastrous press conference, Brian Glenn, who is the chief White House correspondent for right-wing website Real America's Voice, asked Mr Zelenskyy why he doesn't wear a suit and accused him of having a lack of respect for America.

Have they forgotten about the type of attire Musk wears in the White House?
I can't post a picture but there's a typical one in the link below.

www.brecorder.com/news/40350444/ultimatum-to-federal-workers-raises-tensions-between-musk-white-house-staff
I suppose Musk is in charge of the whole kit and caboodle, though, so can please himself.

When I watched the full vid of this debacle earlier today, it seemed to me that Trump used a softly, softly very friendly approach towards Zelenskyy to begin with- Vance said nothing and all in the room seemed to be listening.
Trump then changed tack opened the meeting up to questions from the room and the atmosphere in the Oval office seemed to change immediately.

Willow Do you think the question about Zelenskyy not wearing a suit was a plant? His answer seemed prickly compared to how he’d been before.

The whole meeting seemed to degenerate after that with all the shouting and talking over one another; Vance was like a dog with a bone- just wouldn’t let up hence I think the reason Zelenskyy lost his cool and swore at him, maybe he realised/ thought he’d been set up?
Interestingly as many of the digs from Vance were repeatedly about him not being thankful for Americas help, Zelenskyy seems to have gone out of his way today, to thank individually all those countries who have pledged to stand by Ukraine- few more cages being rattled Stateside now maybe, although it won’t stop Trump from enjoying his golf this weekend, will it?

Thank you for that link MayBee70. The voice of reason, oh that there were more raised voices speaking to truth!

Elegran

Trump and co are trying to run a protection racket, as operated by the mafia in Italy, and several notorious gangsters in the States at various times. Is that what he means by "Make America great again", - that he feels he has been reincarnated to be Al Capone to the rest of the world?

"Sign over your mineral rights to me and I will do a deal with Putin to stop attacking your country" - but when Zelensky asks for reassurances that the US will guarantee to honour the deal , he is accused of being ungrateful and wasting their time. International deals are normally sealed with official agreements signed by both sides and containing clauses defining the terms and assurances, they are not extracted with menaces by a pack of gangsters in a one-sided "meeting" making "an offer you can't refuse" to one man with no backup.

Al Capone died of syphilis in prison. Just saying.

Good analogy.

Elegran

Trump and co are trying to run a protection racket, as operated by the mafia in Italy, and several notorious gangsters in the States at various times. Is that what he means by "Make America great again", - that he feels he has been reincarnated to be Al Capone to the rest of the world?

"Sign over your mineral rights to me and I will do a deal with Putin to stop attacking your country" - but when Zelensky asks for reassurances that the US will guarantee to honour the deal , he is accused of being ungrateful and wasting their time. International deals are normally sealed with official agreements signed by both sides and containing clauses defining the terms and assurances, they are not extracted with menaces by a pack of gangsters in a one-sided "meeting" making "an offer you can't refuse" to one man with no backup.

Bit like Marlon Brando aka Godfather, init?

Silverbrooks

This was classic narcissistic “bait and switch” aka the “mean and sweet cycle” or the “nice and nasty cycle.” This wasn’t diplomacy. It was bullying. It was obvious from the start that Vance was a dangerous pick as election running mate and now we are seeing the result of that.

Are we any the wiser about who Trump is aligned with (his words). He contradicted himself in his usual rambling fashion. And what was all that stuff about sheets and javelins? A native English speaker would be hard pressed to extract similies or metaphor from that let alone a non-native speaker.

To quote Andrew Roth in Washington:

It is difficult to know who is more contemptible: those who wanted this or those who merely went along with it. There is a picture in the Oval Office of [secretary of state] Rubio and Vance sitting side by side as Trump rips into Zelenskyy. Rubio looks deeply uncomfortable, his hands clasped and his face downcast. Vance looks ecstatic. He finally got the fight he wanted to pick.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/28/jd-vance-volodymyr-zelenskyy

Truly despicable bullying, a set up, and as you say a bait and switch.

Where did he find his incorrect numbers? America has given 120 billion (in used old equipment) not 350 billion. And why must support be recuperated?

It’s by Anthony Scaramucci who appears regularly on TRIP’s and is a Republican who used to work for Trump. I never really knew the timeline that led up to the war.

I’ve copied this from Facebook for my own reference as I don’t want to lose it but can’t seem to be ale to paste the whole article just the link. There are things in it that I didn’t know scontent-lhr6-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/481051240_10163523746818623_5649309598823139307_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=Ht2UozQ6Uz8Q7kNvgF4HG7j&_nc_oc=AdhMejzhXmW1_b0D11p-uRppwvMdokbq_dtNPpoem_ChzHlzJo2k5Y6bVKTH-a8xJpwp73DiyQ-vO_r8BlrO7p6m&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-2.xx&_nc_gid=AYPjy1FXmLLLKggDQN2Vt3U&oh=00_AYCFKCtlGeUUW37F678xOU4FfcTxtLOR-wtBL5lR0F0L9Q&oe=67C8EEC0

This was classic narcissistic “bait and switch” aka the “mean and sweet cycle” or the “nice and nasty cycle.” This wasn’t diplomacy. It was bullying. It was obvious from the start that Vance was a dangerous pick as election running mate and now we are seeing the result of that.

Are we any the wiser about who Trump is aligned with (his words). He contradicted himself in his usual rambling fashion. And what was all that stuff about sheets and javelins? A native English speaker would be hard pressed to extract similies or metaphor from that let alone a non-native speaker.

To quote Andrew Roth in Washington:

It is difficult to know who is more contemptible: those who wanted this or those who merely went along with it. There is a picture in the Oval Office of [secretary of state] Rubio and Vance sitting side by side as Trump rips into Zelenskyy. Rubio looks deeply uncomfortable, his hands clasped and his face downcast. Vance looks ecstatic. He finally got the fight he wanted to pick.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/28/jd-vance-volodymyr-zelenskyy

Elegran

Trump and co are trying to run a protection racket, as operated by the mafia in Italy, and several notorious gangsters in the States at various times. Is that what he means by "Make America great again", - that he feels he has been reincarnated to be Al Capone to the rest of the world?

"Sign over your mineral rights to me and I will do a deal with Putin to stop attacking your country" - but when Zelensky asks for reassurances that the US will guarantee to honour the deal , he is accused of being ungrateful and wasting their time. International deals are normally sealed with official agreements signed by both sides and containing clauses defining the terms and assurances, they are not extracted with menaces by a pack of gangsters in a one-sided "meeting" making "an offer you can't refuse" to one man with no backup.

“I will give you an offer that you can’t refuse”

That’s a pretty fair summary Elegran. I would like to see a copy of the agreement.

Full meeting is up on U tube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI2OAO0L814

what was the meeting for, except to discuss the substance of the negotiations? why was it wrong in the face of aggression and misinformation* from the hosts, for Zelenski to actually raise the content of the talks?

Trump and co are trying to run a protection racket, as operated by the mafia in Italy, and several notorious gangsters in the States at various times. Is that what he means by "Make America great again", - that he feels he has been reincarnated to be Al Capone to the rest of the world?

"Sign over your mineral rights to me and I will do a deal with Putin to stop attacking your country" - but when Zelensky asks for reassurances that the US will guarantee to honour the deal , he is accused of being ungrateful and wasting their time. International deals are normally sealed with official agreements signed by both sides and containing clauses defining the terms and assurances, they are not extracted with menaces by a pack of gangsters in a one-sided "meeting" making "an offer you can't refuse" to one man with no backup.

Sorry it took longer than I thought it would to find it

Mum2three

"Thoroughly enjoyed the scene. Trump speaks his mind...no pussyfooting about with this man. How refreshing after Biden and Obama....sucking up and appeasing"

Seriously....'thoroughly enjoying?' Whatever it was it was utterly miserable. How unpleasant to be entertained by this kind of behaviour.

Yes Cossy.

How can Ukraine agree to something that doesn’t exist?

This is the link to the full video on Youtube without any of MAGA supporters adding their opinions like they have on X.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_YtXWVfkJE

woodenspoon

The envoy Zelensky screamed at is Scott Bessent.

Didn't the Day Mail (!) say 100% fake news'?

I'm sure I saw that!