Trump Sells Out Ukraine

Raise your hand if you are outraged, once again, at the antics of our unqualified president, Donald J. Trump. Nobody knew he would so aggressively pursue that deal with Vladimir Putin, right? Well, the Great Negotiator blew it. Putin has played Trump like a fiddle. Like a sucker and a loser.

In the meantime, President Zelenskyy (the only one here who deserves the title of President) was left hanging in the wind by Trump. First, Trump invited him into the Oval Office at the end of February, and then he and J.D. (JD stands for Just Dumb) Vance double-teamed him for a show on Russian television.

Trump berated the Ukrainian president for not thanking him, which Zelenskyy has done a gazillion times, and told him he wasn’t holding any of the Goddamn cards, Trump shocked the world by blatantly spouting Putin’s favorite talking points. Americans were left paralyzed, wondering if they had elected a fool to the presidency because 45 percent of Americans wanted a quick end to the war, with 55 percent supporting a fight to the end. Only 3 percent of Americans support Putin, despite Trump’s desire to deal with him.

The final blow was learning that a Russian camera from TASS, its news agency, was present in the Oval Office and livestreaming to Moscow. Many believe that the whole thing was a setup to make Zelenskyy look foolish and so that Trump could gain Putin’s favor.

In the aftermath of the Oval Office debacle, Trump grumbled that Ukraine must hold elections and even that Zelenskyy must agree to step down as president. I cringe knowing what the rest of the world must think of the United States of America at this apparent betrayal of our Ukrainian friends. And it is not the job of any country to tell another one who should rule.

Treating Zelenskyy as an enemy undoubtedly surprised the conservatives who wrote Project 2025. They wrote in the Mandate for Leadership (pp.218-219) that Russia was the aggressor but that Ukraine was also corrupt; and so they wanted Trump to help Ukraine militarily but not financially.

Those who believed conservative-held rumors that Biden fired Minister Shokin to conceal his own misdeeds should remember that Biden fired Shoken at the behest of several leaders, including Obama, plus representatives of the International Money Fund, the World Bank, and several European Union nations.

It is important to note that Zelenskyy fought corruption in Ukraine, running on the promise to eliminate greed and dishonesty in the former regime. By now, it is obvious that Trump is ignoring the conservatives’ recommendation on the matter.

Zelenskyy had previously incurred Trump’s wrath Trump asked him to say he had “dirt” on Biden in 2019—the big reason Trump has for hating Zelenskyy—and Zelenskyy refused.

It now appears Trump will destroy Ukraine after all, without even solidifying his alliance with Putin. He started out by securing Zelenskyy’s agreement to a 30-day ceasefire. Whatever terms he set, reportedly Zelenskyy agreed.

But Putin wants assurances that the Ukrainian army will not mobilize or arm, and it will reduce to 100,000 soldiers or less. Zelenskyy will not receive arms or intelligence from the United States or other foreign nations, and Ukraine will never join NATO.

In exchange for this, Putin agrees to a 30-day partial ceasefire, meaning that he will not shoot at infrastructure and the grid. There Zelenskyy will be, a fish squirming, betrayed, in the bottom of a barrel. Trump put him in there, slicker than Uncle Jack’s shaving cream and twice as nasty, earning the ill will of the American people and committing horrible treachery in the eyes of the free world.

Simpleton that he is, Trump assured the American people, as he does with each of his silly, disastrous calls, that it was a “good call.” An hour after the call, Putin bombed the infrastructure and energy grid.

Was that enough to cause Trump to stand with Ukraine and condemn Russia for dealing falsely? Oh, no—shortly after that happened, White House staff revealed that Trump is considering a withdrawal from the military leadership of NATO. Considering that the position of Supreme Allied Commander-Europe has been held by an American since 1952, there are plenty of Americans mightily ticked off about this.

Trump and Putin had been on the phone for 90 minutes. I can’t help wondering if stepping aside from NATO was one of Putin’s demands. Trump boasted all along how he was very good friends with Putin, but maybe Trump has been played.

Angering our neighbors is Trump’s specialty.