No matter how many times I see the video clip, it becomes even more astounding by increments and multipliers.
There, in the Oval Office of the White House, Felon-in-Chief Donald Trump and Vice Ankle Biter J.D. Vance provoked, and then escalated, an argument with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was heard around the world. Keep in mind that Zelenskyy was an invited guest to the White House, ostensibly there to sign an agreement granting the United States mining rights to rare earth minerals (such as graphite, titanium, lithium, beryllium and uranium), which are critical components in today's computerized and digital world.
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| Dress suit optional. |
What devolved was an unexpected attack (some suggest a deliberate ambush) by schoolyard bullies Trump and Vance in an effort to belittle and embarrass Zelenskyy, who pretty much held his own against the shameful tag-team antagonists.
Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful and "disrespectful" for trying to "litigate this in front of the American media."
That's hilarious, considering that Zelenskyy was the invited guest here who suddenly found himself defending his country once again, this time from two apparent Russian assets disguised as American political leaders.
Furthermore, the media that was present were mostly right-wing outlets which also included a representative of the Russian state media. But not the Associated Press or Reuters, two of the world's respected news agencies who were excluded from the media op. One right-wing reporter even asked Zelenskyy, who famously wears military-style clothing to illustrate his fight against the Russian aggression, why he didn't wear a dress suit to the White House – as if that would solve all problems.
And what the hell was Vance even doing there in the first place, except to bite ankles? Very odd.
Most of you probably saw by now the 10-minute exchange that did such incredible damage to decades of American diplomacy. We became a much weaker nation on Friday. Couple that exchange with DOGE's ongoing cuts to the federal government, we're not only becoming weaker, but poorer, less healthy and less informed. Certainly, less respected.
At one point in the exchange, Trump became unhinged in front of our very eyes when Zelenskyy, trying to invoke reason toward an unreasonable person, told Trump that the U.S. would feel future problems with Russia.
"You don't know that," Trump fired back, his voice growing louder in an effort to overwhelm Zelenskyy. "Don't tell us what we're going to feel."
Trump then told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was losing its war with Russia and that he must accept a ceasefire. Some ally. You could almost see Russian president Vladimir Putin dancing a jig in the ether. The United States at that moment had become a Russian ally. Mission accomplished.
One could sense that if there had been a plate of cheeseburgers and French fries in front of them, Trump would have picked them up and hurled them against the White House walls in just the way White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described what she saw during the House Select Committee during the Jan. 6 hearings. I certainly believe her testimony now.
Trump licked Zelenskyy out of the White House without signing the mining agreement.
Another thought came to my mind as well.
In one of the great moments of American diplomacy, I pictured President Franklin D. Roosevelt meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the deck of the HMS Repulse off the coast of Newfoundland in August 1941. The United States still had four months to wait before Pearl Harbor and its entry into World War II, but England was standing virtually alone, (Germany attacked an unprepared Russia in June of that year), holding off the Nazi juggeraut almost singlehandedly.
FDR and Churchill got together to sign the Atlantic Charter, which declared the United States' support for the United Kingdom and outlined goals for the defeat of the Germany.
FDR did not throw any tantrums. He wasn't offended that Churchill was wearing a naval uniform and not a dress suit.
It was a moment of American greatness. The way we once were.
