Saturday, March 1, 2025
‘A bigger victory for Putin than any military battle’: Russia gleeful after Trump-Zelenskyy clash
For Kremlin insiders, the incident also signified a fundamental shift in the global order, with a White House no longer seen as an enemy but rather as a partner to Moscow – one with whom business and politics can be conducted.
Zelensky says he doesn't think he did anything wrong after public spat with Trump
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/01/trump-zelensky-spat-fox-interview
The earlier shouting match in front of the cameras led to the explosion of a meeting between the two leaders, with Trump asking Zelensky to leave the White House.
It also took off the table, for now, the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement that was supposed to be signed on Friday.
The divide between the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders will likely lead to more changes in the Trump administration's policy towards Ukraine.
A U.S. official said Trump is considering several retaliatory steps, including stopping military assistance to Ukraine.
World Leaders React to Zelensky and Trump’s Oval Office Showdown
https://time.com/7263291/zelensky-trump-oval-office-showdown-us-ukraine-world-leaders-react/
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump said.
Following the Oval Office confrontation, many world leaders have spoken out, remarking upon what happened.
Some have reified their support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. A few have supported Trump.
Tense Oval Office meeting | Trump and Vance scold Zelenskyy: You're not acting thankful
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404680
Zelenskyy and Trump, who was joined by Vice President JD Vance, exchanged sharp words over the nature of US support for Ukraine and whether Zelenskyy had shown sufficient gratitude.
“You’re not really in good position right now,” Trump scolded Zelenskyy, adding, “You’re gambling with World War III.”
Trump warned Zelenskyy that Ukraine had to make a deal with the United States, or his country would end its support.
"Your people are very brave, but you're either going to make a deal or we're out, and if we're out, you'll fight it out," Trump said, adding, "I don't think it's going to be pretty, but you'll fight it out, but you don't have the cards."
Trump also told Zelenskyy, "And you're not acting at all thankful, and that's not a nice thing."
Why Narcissist Trump Had to Be the Oval Office’s Biggest TV Star
But the moment passed. Trump decided he could not just let Zelensky “disrespect” him in the Oval Office. The meeting ended and Zelensky was asked to depart the White House and his subsequent thank-yous would not likely change anything. Trump asked the press to leave the Oval Office.
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Trump said.
The one-time star of The Apprentice then said of his meeting with the one-time star of Servant of the People, “This is going to be great television, I will say that.”
5 takeaways from Trump-Vance-Zelensky Oval Office blowup
Happiest of all: Russia
For all the delight expressed by some of Trump’s domestic allies, the real gloating seemed to come from Moscow.
Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president more than a decade ago, celebrated on social media that “the insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office.”
Medvedev also endorsed Trump’s view that Zelensky was gambling with World War Three.
The Associated Press (AP) quoted a Russian lawmaker, Andrei Klishas, as describing the outcome of the meeting as “a brilliant result.”
Whatever Trump’s intentions, the current picture could hardly look rosier from the Kremlin’s perspective.
How Zelensky's White House Visit With Trump Unraveled in Real Time
https://www.newsweek.com/how-zelenskys-white-house-visit-trump-unraveled-real-time-2037983
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were scheduled to sign a minerals deal Friday at the White House and then hold a joint press conference in a choreographed show of solidarity aimed at repairing their increasingly fraught relationship.
Instead, Trump effectively kicked Zelensky out of the White House and canceled the press conference after a remarkably heated exchange with Ukraine's leader in the Oval Office — a dramatic turn of events that ratcheted up tensions between the two leaders and put Trump's push for a quick peace deal in Ukraine in doubt.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace," Trump wrote in a social media post immediately after the Oval Office meeting. "He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Minutes later, Zelensky's motorcade was seen pulling up to the White House, preparking to whisk him away. A White House spokesperson said Friday that the minerals deal was not signed, according to a pool report.
A Fiasco in the Oval Office
https://www.thefp.com/p/a-fiasco-in-the-oval-office
On Friday the world witnessed one of the most astonishing spectacles in White House history.
American presidents have surely dressed down besieged allies behind closed doors; never before has it happened on live television. This break with any prior presidential diplomacy must be seen to be believed.
What unfolded between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance turned into a political Rorschach test.
For Trump’s base, the 50-minute exchange was proof positive of America First foreign policy—an ungrateful freeloader gets upbraided by the populist tribune.
For Americans who still cling to the now unfashionable notion that the international system should be ruled by rules and not might, Friday’s incident was a horror.
From the perspective of Europe, it's the beginning of the end of the Trans-Atlantic alliance...
Friday, February 28, 2025
She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/27/fired-federal-worker-trump-voter/
Getting fired meant she would no longer have health insurance, including the 12 weeks of paid maternity leave that was a guaranteed benefit of her federal service. Also gone would be the promotion that would allow her to plan for the kids she so badly wanted to have.
Donald Trump might have made a bad mineral deal with Ukraine
https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-bad-mineral-deal-ukraine-volodymyr-zelenskyy/
President Donald Trump, who prides himself on his negotiating skills, is on the brink of clinching a deal that would give the U.S. preferential access to Ukraine’s extensive raw material reserves.
But Trump might end up getting less than he bargained for. Estimates of Ukraine’s supposed mineral wealth are based on outdated Soviet-era surveys that didn’t take into account the viability or cost of developing them.
The latest draft of the agreement, cited by Ukrainian newspaper Economic Pravda, would see Kyiv pay 50 percent of revenues from its state-owned natural resources into a fund that would invest in Ukraine. There would be no U.S. security guarantees in return.
On paper, the U.S. stands to make a killing from the deal.
In practice, the extent of Ukraine’s mineral patrimony is still largely a mystery.
Shas MK dismisses UTJ threat to torpedo government if no law exempting Haredim from IDF
Shas MK Avraham Betzalel on Thursday appeared to dismiss threats to bring down the government issued by fellow ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism, which has demanded the swift passage of a bill largely exempting yeshiva students from military service.
In the latest signal from Shas that the party would not support time-bound ultimatums issued by UTJ, Betzalel told Radio Kol Hai that there was no set date when the conscription law needed to be passed. Failure to pass the budget next month will trigger automatic elections.