Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky might have self-immolated himself and his country’s ties with the United States with one meeting. It was the talk of the town, with President Trump excoriating the Ukrainian leader rightly for being an ungrateful clown who tried to shake-down the United States for more cash. There’s a reason why a Republican is in the White House and not a Democrat. There’s been a shift, and Zelensky grossly misread the room.
Reports out of the WH cite Zelenskyy’s 'demeanor' as part of the reason Trump and US officials felt disrespected —
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 28, 2025
— “shrugging and rolling his eyes" during the conversation.
It was non stop: pic.twitter.com/hkZIdpkEgp
This was @realDonaldTrump yesterday. To go from this to today’s fiasco is a massive failure on @ZelenskyyUa’s part. And his refusal to acknowledge his responsibility, apologize and fix the breach will have devastating consequences. https://t.co/z8Zy8oiJUU
— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱 (@marcthiessen) March 1, 2025
After years of war, Ukraine is devastated, depopulated, and completely reliant on western cash, arms, and goodwill. Bizarrely, Zelenskyy thinks he holds all the cards.
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) February 28, 2025
He let Democrats and Euros convince him weapons, manpower, & money aren't important -- that moral authority is…
Zelensky tried to remind President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others in the room that Russia was a threat, unaware that we already know this—the nation is a nuclear power. We had a Cold War with Moscow that dominated the 20th Century geopolitics, Zelensky. We know we’re rivals. It paved the way for a blunder that led to Trump kicking Zelensky out of the White House, canceling a lunch, and a joint press conference. Kyiv was nuked, just not in a conventional way.
Recommended
.@SecScottBessent on President Zelenskyy: “This is one of the biggest ‘own goals’ in diplomatic history.” pic.twitter.com/ftXutYqsEp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 1, 2025
.@SecScottBessent: "You don't do a negotiation with the President of the United States in public like this... [Zelenskyy] chose to let things go into a downward spiral on worldwide television. I keep coming back to the disrespect of the American people." pic.twitter.com/RrwocBufq1
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 28, 2025
There it is. Trump Cabinet member Scott Bessent says Zelensky already twice refused to sign a minerals deal with the U.S. under Trump. Twice. This 3rd time was most definitely planned.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 1, 2025
pic.twitter.com/tnDB7a9a5r
Philip Wegmann of RealClearPolitics had a lengthy account for what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent aptly described as “one of the biggest ‘own goals’ in diplomatic history.” Zelensky was there to sign a minerals deal, which had been negotiated and agreed to, but the Ukrainian president refused to sign it to keep the spotlight on him. He also didn't account of the changing attitudes in America toward this war, which proved fatal (via RCP) [emphasis mine]:
For three years in the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was heralded as the second coming of Winston Churchill. He earned standing ovations from Congress, posed for glossy photo shoots, and received regular envoys of politicians, celebrities, and press from the West.
But one moment in the Oval Office may have ended it all.
[…]
The drama that played out at the White House was unprecedented. It certainly was not scripted. One source familiar with preparations for the dialogue told RCP, “None of us expected [Zelensky] to act like that.” Indeed, the administration had hoped that Friday would mark the beginning of the end of the conflict, and they expected to bask in glowing headlines after leaders from both nations signed the minerals deal on camera in the East Room. Instead, Zelensky was sent packing, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was left fuming.
“I busted my ass to help Ukraine,” Graham told Fox News from the White House lawn. Easily the greatest and oldest Republican friend of Kyiv, the senator arrived on campus to celebrate a breakthrough. From the moment Russian tanks rolled across the border, he had pushed for more aid and even led a congressional delegation into the war zone to make his case.
His advice to Zelensky ahead of the Oval Office meeting? “Do not let the media or anybody else get you into an argument with President Trump,” Graham said. And then Zelensky did exactly that over the course of little more than an hour.
Even former President Joe Biden found Zelensky taxing at times. When the Ukrainian leader pressed for more aid immediately after the U.S. greenlit another $1 billion in military assistance in October 2022, Biden reportedly replied that the American people were already being quite generous and that Zelensky ought to show a bit more gratitude.
[…]
Seated before an unlit fireplace and wearing signature blue suit and red tie, Trump called it “an honor” to receive Zelensky, who was at his left sporting a black sweatshirt and matching cargo pants, then proceeded to praise “the unbelievably brave” Ukrainian soldiers. Disagreements simmered under the surface at first and only erupted after the vice president made explicit the new paradigm.
“We tried the pathway of Joe Biden of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions,” Vance said. “What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy.”
This was too much for Zelensky, who has watched Russia repeatedly make diplomatic agreements and break them with ease. The Ukrainian leader laid out the history from the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 to the invasion of Eastern Crimea in 2014 before demanding to know, “What kind of diplomacy, J.D., you are speaking about?”
When Vance replied that “the kind of diplomacy” was the sort that would end “the destruction of your country,” Zelensky tried to interject. Vance told him it was “disrespectful” to litigate the issue in public before the media, only for Zelensky to again interrupt, protesting, “Have you ever been to Ukraine?” An extended discourse followed, with allegations of ingratitude. Trump only erupted when Zelensky warned that the U.S. would “feel” the threat of Russia “in the future.”
“You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump told Zelensky, warning him, “you’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.” The media was escorted out shortly afterward, and the White House rescinded its invitation to sign a deal. Said the president in a statement posted on social media, Zelensky “disrespected the United States” and “can come back when he is ready for peace.”
Outside observers quickly concluded that the Ukrainian had run afoul of Trump-era diplomatic norms. “Zelensky misread the deeply polarized nature of the Ukraine issue in the U.S. and failed to adjust his approach accordingly,” Zineb Riboua, a scholar at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, told RCP.
BAIER: "Do you think your relationship with Donald Trump, President Trump, after today, can be salvaged?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 28, 2025
ZELENSKYY: "Yes, of course... We are thankful and sorry for this. We wanted very much to have only strong relations and I'm very confident we will have it." pic.twitter.com/KsJyBOxPjE
Zelensky hasn’t apologized for his behavior, and it’s astounding that someone could have this blasé attitude toward the changes regarding the 2024 election. My man, there’s no support here for massive aid packages anymore. We know Russia is a geopolitical rival capable of destroying us; we’ve lived under that threat since post-World War II. Russians have been ready at our doorstep since they have these things called ICBMs. And we have the same capabilities with our nuclear deterrent, hence the World War III talk. Obama significantly degraded our nuclear readiness but that’s another story.
Ukraine is in damage control, evidenced by Zelensky's tweet after this circus.
Churchill? More like Temu Churchill.
The people have spoken.pic.twitter.com/vGFpQ4PgN5
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) February 28, 2025
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