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In this new video, historian and pundit Victor Davis Hanson discusses the Trump-Zelensky dust-up on Friday at the White House, reflecting on how, “usually, in international diplomacy, the client doesn’t dictate to the patron.”
Don’t miss it!
Victor Davis Hanson
On Todays White House Meeting @VDHanson pic.twitter.com/CUDV2N4lxg— TheRealCherokeeOwl (@RealCherokeeOwl) February 28, 2025
Words of wisdom by Victor Davis Hanson presented by the self described “liberty loving Latino,” Chris Salcedo. You guys even plugged Newsmax and Hanson plugged Trump’s plan for an American economic zone between Russia and the Ukraine. This reader is happy.
I figure Zelenskyy needs to pull his head out and realize he isn’t dealing with Puppet Biden but a real leader who didn’t hesitate to boot him and his entourage out of the White House for his insolence and ingratitude.
Little man tried to save face with a pseudo apology on X: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit, thank you @POTUS. Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
You’re going to have to do better than that, Mini-Me. I guarantee President Trump isn’t impressed and Vlad is laughing at you.
Yeah, lots of elementary mistakes that could be listed in a beginner’s textbook on Diplomacy. Like “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” 🙂
He even looked like a barking little dog, didn’t he? 🙂
Vlad is laughint at Trump as well. Why Trump or any leader in the free world wants to be buddies with Putin is anyone’s guess. How he treated Zelansky is disgusting. Trump is shitting on all the U.S.’s allies and apparently this is supported by many of his supporters. Not a great start to his presidency.
To Susan, You’re one of those progressives who sees only what you want to see that reinforces your biases. Look at the WHOLE video. Zelensky had no intention of signing a deal he had already informally agreed to. He came to the meeting in bad faith.
Prior to the blow-up, Zelensky passed around photos of Ukrainian POWs who had been starved and tortured by the Russians. His point may be valid, but a meeting with the press in the Oval Office isn’t the time or the place. Trump successfully refocused to the purpose of the meeting – achieving peace and signing a minerals deal.
THEN when Trump is trying to wind down the press conference and adjourn to a private discussion, (IOW, at literally the last moment) Zelensky raises all the acts of Russian bad faith since 2014. Again, valid points, but should have been reserved for the private discussion, not a press conference.
Zelensky’s history w/ the Biden regime is one of constantly whining, complaining, and demanding more. No matter what the US has done for him and Ukraine, it was never enough. We can’t know what was in his mind here- was he clumsily just trying to get more than what the parties had already agreed to, or kill the deal?
The image of the Ukraine ambassador with her face in hands tells it all. She knew Zelensky had screwed the pooch.
The failure is all on Zelensky. Those trying to blame Trump and Vance are going to blame them no matter what they do.
How are things on Bizarro World, retard? You am smart.
I guess Zelensky forgot he was the client. Maybe he thought he could handle Trump like he handled the Biden team.
What a dumbass.
Obama betrayed Ukraine by not giving aid; just cop-out sanctions.
Biden gave too little too late for fear of provoking Putin.
Trump is acting like the Soviet Union and Putin like Germany with Ukraine
playing the part of Poland. He avoids provoking Putin but looks
like a strong bully doing so.
I will acknowledge that Khrushchev should not have given Crimea to Ukraine,
but any revision of borders should have been negotiated back in 1994.
Go ahead “Intrepid” …parrot the client/patron BS; it’s easier than thinking.
So what would you have done in Zelensky’s position?
Yeah, right. President Trump is afraid of Putin and wants to look like a “bully” rather than a deal maker.
You’re a moron.
President Trump is the only force on the planet which can arrange for Putin to keep what he’s already taken and stop his campaign of conquest. He’s the Ukriane’s only hope.
You can’t get a point across without resorting to ad hominem attacks. Who’s the moron?
YOU are a fellow moron of AK. I didn’t use an ad hominem argument because I stuck to facts and refuted the falsehoods of his argument. Buy a dictionary, dipshit.
How did you like voting for Kammy?
When is some intrepid true journalist going to put a Napolean hat on Zelensky?
His imitation SAS sweater reminds me of the fake uniforms Castro and Saddam used to wear.
The Z isn’t worthy of a Napolean hat
A dunce cap? He can sit in a corner facing walls along with Alzheimer Joe.
You must be a delight to live with, Jeff. 😁😁
And I agree with you, so not dissing you.
You remind me of my mother, who sadly does have dementia now. But her politics were a lot like yours, or rather her political statements. Never a dull moment. 🤪🤪
Trump is a bull in a china shop. Zelensky is a bull in a china shop. One is a patron, the other is not. Too bad.
Beyond Zelensky’s lack of preparation, I saw a clash of cultures, West versus East. Russians tend to lean toward pugnaciousness, always ready for a fight. And I don’t know how experienced Trump is with dealing with Russian people. Still, the onus is on Zel who didn’t seem to have a plan from the start.
Good points. There are some things that were very suspicious about that meeting (part 1 of 2).
1) Why was this discussion being held in front of a room full of media types? Want to know who else was in that media entourage? A representative from TASS, the Russian state propaganda bureau. [Several reliable sources on this.] How did a member of TASS get admitted to the White House, much less allowed to get that close to the U.S. president? Not an accident.
2) Why was Vance in that meeting? If you watch the video, Vance played the role of the provocateur, and then Trump joined in. This should have been a closed door meeting just between Trump and Zelensky, followed by a joint announcement with all talking points ironed out in advance. I have never seen a scene like this EVER in the U.S. or in other countries, which also included kicking Zelensky out of the WH and skipping the prepared lunch, which was given to the attending media.
3) When a head of state visits the U.S. to sign an agreement, all the details would be worked out in advance by the teams from both sides. It appears that the U.S. withdrew the security guarantees that were supposed to be part of this deal, and it dropped like a live grenade into the meeting.
4) Zelensky should have brought an interpreter and relied on him in any one-on-one meeting with Trump. Zelensky doesn’t have the English skills for direct negotiation with a U.S. president. Other countries routinely follow this protocol.
5) These and other indicators would suggest that the staging of this meeting was a setup to produce the kind of humiliation of Zelensky that Trump was seeking, for whatever reason. All the blather about “respect” is BS. This is supposed to be a negotiation between the leaders of two nation, one of which is fighting and dying daily to defend itself from a Russian invasion that has killed hundreds of thousands.
The security guarantees which Zelenskyy wanted were American boots on the ground. Fortunately, Trump was never considering that. Zelensky knew that going in. But Trump was right: he has no cards. Zelensky seems to have thought that he could browbeat him into offering him American lives, although he had nothing to offer that we wanted.
I sympathize with Russia. It could not allow a Nato country on its borders, It is just for Russia to protect Crimea and the Donbas, areas which democratically voted for confederation with Russia.
Zelensky is out only to enrich himself. I hope the EU oligarchs do not use Zelensky to try to divert public attention from their real problems.
Russia is already bordered by five NATO states. Crimea and Donbas only supported being parts of Russia after Putin had them invaded and settled by Russians.
Your propaganda is weak, comrade.
I will agree with you on this one, Jeff. BINGO.
“… Russia to protect Crimea and the Donbas, areas which democratically voted for confederation with Russia.” Sure. It’s amazing what results you can get in an election with a gun to the head of local voters, or from transplanting your own comrades after eliminating a large fraction of the resident male population by forcing them into meat-assault brigades. What happened to the many thousands of Ukrainians that lived in these areas pre-war who were abducted and deported by Russian to the far reaches of the Russian empire (along with many Ukrainian children)? I suppose they were not allowed to vote by mail.
Why can’t Russia allow a NATO country on its border? Serious question which I’ve never understood. Thanks.
And you probably think the moon landings were faked and Elvis is still alive.
DERP.
More ad hominem BS from JB. You keep exposing yourself like this and people might suspect you can’t attempt an argument without resorting to it.
Exposing conspiracy theory nonsense isn’t ad hominem argumentation.
Dictionaries are our friends. So is reality.
Wait … You mean Elvis is dead? You’re such a buzzkill.
I wouldn’t claim to be able to get into Trump’s head, but I think I understand him well enough to believe that he saw Zel as the kid brother trying to get into the game with the big kids. Trump may have been unable to take him seriously. To which Trump’s attitude might have been that of the annoyed adult blowing off the dumb kid: “Go away, boy, you bother me.” I’d write it off as a neighborhood squabble, not a preview to WWIII.
It was an old-fashioned pi$$ing contest. Zelensky didn’t like being accused as a dictator and starting the war (which is a lie) and thin-skinned Trump with the memory of ;Zelensky’s camp supporting Harris. Both men licking wounds = Zelensky’s fresher than Trump’s. .Vance trying to play superman. Get on with it boys!
President Trump and Vice President Vance owned that room and Lil’ Zelenskyy. Beggars like little man can’t dictate terms.
Only President Trump can stop Putin from annexing all of the Ukraine. America, Russia and the Ukraine exist in the real world, not Fantasy Land. Zelenskyy does remind me of Mickey Mouse, though.
Have you faced challenges similar to Zelensky that you can actually belittle him, confident in your own ability to have handled the situation which has faced him over the past years?
The trite old argument that “only first hand knowledge is valid” is fallacious argumentation.
I’ve never been to the sun but I know it’s hot. See how that works, dumbass?
Zelenskyy bit the hand that’s feeding him and everybody who watched that meeting KNOWS that. And yes, I could do better than that little ingrate. If I were in his position I’d gladly let President Trump rescue my country and I sure wouldn’t act up and try to dictate terms of diplomacy. Beggars and losers can’t be choosers. But then, I’m not an insolent Oompa Loompa who chews on a candy bar while adults and throws a tantrum while the adults are talking.
Europe still doesn’t get it…they don’t count any longer. The world has changed, and they’re still demanding America continue to embrace the post WWII, cold war, Europe is essential against the USSR, and the mentality of NATO, which is no longer necessary. It’s done, and they refuse to accept that.
The real focus is the Middle East, not Ukraine, Russia, and even China. All of which are now losers, economically as well as militarily. Russia isn’t the mighty bear everyone feared. Europe no longer fears what was considered the number two military in the world that hasn’t been able to beat the number 22 military in the world in three years, and needs “recruits” from North Korea to man their army. China’s broke, and before Trump is done, they’re going to be more broke, Europe is a spent force that still thinks it has meaning and purpose, it doesn’t.
Yes, the Sick Man of Europe is now Europe itself. Western Europe will be lucky to survive its colonization by islam.
Maybe not. If Europe scrambles to militarily fill the vacuum that America seems to be leaving, and if it is led by Germany in which the AfD has been steadily gaining influence….perhaps we’ll see a resurgence of Fortress Europe.
And maybe pigs will fly.
There are some things that were very suspicious about that meeting (part 2 of 2).
6) The predictable outcome of this fiasco is that Putin will get a new lease on life and double down on his attacks against Ukraine and attempt to level what he cannot directly occupy. The war crimes counts against the Russians are in the thousands. Know who your allies and adversaries are.
7) This maneuver by Trump, et al. will remind those who know their European history (or old enough to have lived through the pre-WWII period) that Czechoslovakia (most of it) was handed to Hitler by Neville Chamberlain in the Munich Agreement to achieve what Chamberlain would claim as “peace in our time.”
8) Now Rubio is stating that the U.S. will not contribute to helping Ukraine restore its energy infrastructure, which has been under massive assault by Russia (in addition to its attacks on the civilian population centers). This all sounds very pre-arranged, hence another pointer to the set-up for this unprecedented and undiplomatic dust-up in front of a room full of invited journos (including TASS), followed by kicking Zelensky out of the WH.
9) What country does that to the leader of a country fighting for its very existence in the face of a Russian invasion in the heart of Europe, with NATO countries right next door? Why do you think Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO?
10) This kabuki theater event needs a closer look after all the media smoke has cleared.
11) I supported Trump and Vance in the 2024 election and have applauded most of his moves to undo the Biden regime’s damage to the Republic, but this episode suggests that Trump & Vance were out over their skis on this one, and the strategic ramifications could be very damaging for the U.S. in the long term (and much sooner for the Ukrainian people).
Yes, it’s President Trump’s fault that beggar Zelenskyy bit the hand that was feeding him.
DERP.
I do not think Putin would have attacked Ukraine if Ukraine had not
given up their nuclear weapons in 1994 (Budapest Memorandum).
The United States cannot be trusted to keep to agreements. Biden
gave too little too late (maybe he would not have given at all if Zelensky
had accepted the offer of a ride), and Trump is using thug tactics. Reminds
me of the rise of the dictators back in the 1930’s.
Spot on. That meeting was staged to put max pressure on Zelensky to accept Trump’s deal with no security assurances, hence the room full of journos (including TASS) and the presence of Vance as the wing-man “prosecutor”. This is not how deals are negotiated between heads of state.
The optics made the U.S. look bad, and you have called it correctly. It has unnecessarily created a rift in the NATO alliance (which has been one of Putin’s goals from the beginning) and undermined the negotiation of agreements with others who will now wonder who else he will throw under the bus. This was never about NATO (that has been Putin’s propaganda line, one that too many in the U.S. swallowed). As Putin himself has made clear on several occasions, this is about restoring Russian control over Stalin’s former Soviet occupied territories. This is why Poland, Finland, Sweden, the Baltic states in particular are re-arming and stepping up NATO participation. NATO is a defensive alliance, and it is clearly still relevant given the Putin-Russia invasions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Obama-Biden set the stage for Putin’s first invasion of Ukraine and then did nada (with others in the west following his lead) after Putin made his move. Obama-Biden-Harris created this sh!tshow, not NATO.
Putin first invaded the Ukraine when Boosh was President.
And President Trump doesn’t give a flying fuck about the impotent NATO, which is nothing but a cash drain on America and the EU. It isn’t a fighting force at all, just a sewer of corruption like the EU.
Who was the U.S. president in 2014 (first invasion by Putin)?
2014 was NOT the first time Putin invaded the Ukriane. His demographic invasion of Russians began long before that. At least as early as 2008 when he invaded Georgia militarily.
Vance/Trump vs. Zelensky sounded a bit like the account I read of Hitler vs. Kurt Schuschnigg (from Rise and Fall).
But I think Europe may pick up the gauntlet that America is throwing down; we’ll see. If Europe rallies, some good may come of it in equalizing the load in combating Putin.
I saw an interview of Putin with Charlie Rose; he said as much calling the Soviet collapse a catastrophe. I do believe that it happened too fast.
Nixon warned that if democracy didn’t work in Russia, the resulting dictatorship would be worse than the Soviet era and that America should invest in Russia. Clinton (who consulted and took much advice from Nixon) put in (no pun) about $650 million if I recall correctly when I looked it up. I don’t know if that was a lot or a little at the time.
Possibly the rise of Putin was due to laziness and incompetence of Yeltsin. He later regretted making Putin his right hand according to acquaintances of his (at least that is what I heard in a documentary posted on Youtube for what it’s worth).
But hey…I just found out a little while ago from Jeff that I am a moron.
Beijing Biden never represented America and neither did his handlers. More than $300 billion dollars later and Zellenskyy is still demanding a never ending cash flow from America.
Trump is Hitler the socialist Jew hater? You leftists never learn, do you? Stupidity and slander are inherent in all of you. Project all you want but Zelenskyy’s cash shower is over and President Trump is going to save the Ukraine from little man’s cupidity and stupidity.
You clearly are unable to spot real leftists (which doesn’t apply to AK or Condor). From the stream of ad hominem attacks and misfires on history that you keep vomiting on this page, some of the readers here might start suspecting you are in fact a Russian or Chinese troll.
I have been voting for president since Carter vs. Ford and my favored candidate has always won except in 2016 and 2024. AND:
1. I deeply regret voting for Bush for the second term.
2. I deeply regret voting for Obama for the second term and even the first….I liked both him and McCain..it was only when McCain chose Palin…
3. When I saw H. Clinton was going to lose before going to sleep election night….a slow smile spread across my face….you can tell how conflicted I was.
4. I would have voted for Trump over Sanders or Warren in 2024….but would by now have regretted that.
5. I will never be able to make up my mind mind about whether or not voting for Carter was an error. The big negatives: Taiwan (but that disgrace was started by Nixon/Kissinger), Panama canal, inflation (who knows if Ford would have handled it well though….he and his “win pin”).
I needed to vent that for a while…thanks for the platform.
Our primary system needs an overhaul…it favors the extremes of both sides leaving little to choose by the plurality of moderates.
So you voted for Peanut BallsCarter, Billdo Clinton, Brokeback Hasbeen Osama, Alzheimer Joe Beijing Bidumb and Heels up Harris but twice against Donald Trump?
“Leftist” doesn’t begin to describe your destructive stupidity.
Did you read this Buzzard? ER, I mean “Condor?”
So called neocons are leftists.
There are some things that were very suspicious about that meeting (part 3):
It should come to no surprise to anyone who knows the history of Ukraine and Russia (at least since the early 90’s) that security guarantees should have been a fundamental issue for Zelensky and Ukraine, given the fact that the country is under a relentless assault by Putin following his second invasion (the first was the 2014 invasion and occupation of Crimea).
Anyone recall the Budapest Memorandum, signed in Dec 1994? That agreement was signed by the U.S., Britain, and RUSSIA to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in exchange for it giving up its nuclear arsenal. At the time of that agreement, Ukraine was the third-largest nuclear power as a result of inheriting a substantial stockpile of Soviet nuclear weapons that included about 5,000 warheads as well as ICBMs in underground silos capable of delivering up to 10 warheads each. Ukraine thus became the only country to voluntarily give up its nuclear weapons. In retrospect that clearly looks like at strategic error on Ukraine’s part, as the Russians have shown little respect for international agreements or treaties when it interferes with their ambitions.
What did the Obama-Biden regime send in support of Ukraine when their appeasement of Putin encouraged him to invade Ukraine the first time and seize Crimea? Blankets and MREs.
Fast forward to the Biden-Harris regime, and Biden’s unambiguous green-lighting of a Putin “incursion” into Ukraine became instead a full-on assault intended to decapitate the leadership and force the submission of the entire country.
The many years of U.S. and western appeasement of Putin set the stage for his two invasions of Ukraine as well as invasions of Georgia and Chechnya (twice). So, who owes who an apology?
There’s nothing suspicious about Zelenskyy’s corrupt greed and the fact that his insolent ingratitude backfired. That shit doesn’t work on President Trump. Zelenskyy’s assumption that he’s as impotent and corrupt as Puppet Biden and his handlers were was extremely foolish.
President Trump is a good man, so he’ll save the Ukraine from Putin anyway.
So you have read Zelensky’s mind and know what his assumptions were about Trump. Amazing. I will agree with the first half of your last sentence, but I have doubts about the outcome of the second. Need to define “save” in this context.
Zelenskyy’s acts and words speak for themselves. Nobody who can see and hear needs to be telepathic or make assumptions.
And “save” in this context means preventing Putin from annexing the entirety of the Ukraine instead of just the Crimea and Donbas. And then there are the millions of lives at stake.
Belarus also, though I do not know what their nuclear arsenal was like.
I read the memorandum back in 2014 and again in 2022. It was short and vague with regard
to what would be done in the event of a violation. It should have spelled out
a definitive response, though Czechoslavkia and Poland might counter that
such definition is not much of a safeguard based on Munich 1938 and September 1939.
Belarus has always been under Moscow’s spell. Ukraine’s leadership history that way is spotty.
I think they were in a nebulous situation politically in 2014 and Putin saw his chance.
(Also, Putin would have to wait for Medvedev to no longer be “in power” so that he
could get credit for the Crimean invasion.)
Biden should have given Ukraine nukes at the outset and Putin should have been down on his knees thanking him, since otherwise Putin himself would have been honor bound to give Ukraine back their nukes.
There are some things that were very suspicious about that meeting (part 4):
The only peace that Putin gave Ukraine was the peace of the grave. Putin miscalculated the Ukrainians will to fight and defend themselves, and they have imposed a huge cost in lives and material on the Russians for their assault (at great sacrifice on their side).
As for the money issue, that will be sorted out in time, but it cannot be the central issue. How many hundreds of billions of USD did we pour into the Iraq and Afghanistan (and still lose in the end while handing over 80 billion USD worth of U.S. gear and bases to the Taliban)? How many thousands of American service personnel lost their lives in those hellholes? Those numbers pale in comparison to what the Ukrainians have sacrificed in resisting the invasion and occupation of their country by Russians and their North Korean allies. This is all happening in the heart of Europe, right next door to several NATO countries, and it is worth noting that Russia has not attacked them (at least not yet). The fact that Finland and Sweden joined NATO (as well as several other former Soviet satellite states before them) should be an indicator of how seriously they view the Russian threat. Many of them have direct experience with the Russian-Soviet boot on their neck, and they know their history.
Obviously, you have a lot of time on your hands.
I stay up later than you do and don’t require as much sleep. Anything else?
Your lack of sleep is obviously affecting your ability to think clearly.
I’ve never seen anyone so desperate to impress than you. Your verbose drivel is not going to get you that editor’s position at the New York Times.
BS. You know nothing about me. There is no attempt to impress, just basic arguments and some historical facts. You just spent way more words composing an insult than you have ever invested in composing a rational argument. Pathetic. If you and your buddy Jeff keep throwing sh!t like monkeys at the zoo, then you will discover that you will be left talking mostly to each other and a few others who will see the tone of the comment section and leave. Maybe you two get off on this, but some of us still have jobs and a life. Hasta la vista.
Yes, it takes extra time to jerk off.
Nothing was suspicious about that meeting, not even Zelenskyy’s foolishness and the influence the EU, the sick man of Europe, had on him.
Little man learned a lesson the hard way. When dogs piss on the floor, they get paddled.
So the UK is going to send troops to defend Ukraine! They can’t even protect their own girls from being raped by the Muslim migrants they stupidly let in.
Just remember all those Posed and set up pictures on Clinton(Bill)leading the Solders a a March on the Whitehouse Front Lawn or overlooking the posed Handshake between Rabin and Arafat and Some Media Democrat Lap Dogs and Bootlickers here in California was comparing Clinton to Crazy Tree Sitter Julia(Butterfly)Hill
Confucius counseled “do not flatter your benefactor”.
Zelenskyy seems to have really taken that maxim to heart.