The world is still digesting the ridiculous scene in the Oval Office last Friday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, JD Vance, and President Donald Trump. Of course, like every event in this fractured world, the Left and Right have two distinct views of what happened. The Left sees this altercation as an ambush by Trump and Vance that was choreographed to embarrass Zelenskyy in front of the media and the world to show Vladimir Putin that we are on his side in the conflict. The media is telling its viewers that this is part two of the Trump/Putin allegiance, with part one being the refusal of the United States to sign a United Nations condemnation of Russia for invading Ukraine. The Left is working overtime to convince America that Trump is a Putin puppet. The number of people who lined the streets of a Vermont hamlet to protest against JD Vance while the Vice President was on a ski weekend with his family indicates the message, though incorrect, is getting through. We will talk about the protest in another article, but it is amazing to get 3,000 protestors in place in a town with a population of 1,200. I wonder how many people are on the voting list?
The other side of the story, the correct side to anyone with common sense and who watches the news, is that Zelenskyy misread the room and overplayed his cards. The reason for this meeting was to sign a long-term mineral agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine. The U.S. would harvest the minerals to repay the nearly $300 Billion we have given Ukraine in cash and munitions. Ukraine would have gotten a monetary deal assuring an American presence in the country for a generation. The agreement was to have been signed a week ago but was canceled by Zelenskyy. It was rescheduled for a few days later in Germany but again canceled by Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy insisted on the signing last Friday in the White House, and then he blew up the deal in front of the media. Since this was Zelenskyy’s show, maybe he was the ambusher and not the ambushee, but far be it for the facts to get in the way of a news story for the Left.
It appears evident that Zelenskyy is more interested in money than peace for his country. It was a message he repeated often during the Oval Office altercation that he wanted continued support or securities in addition to the mineral deal. He cannot account for the billions he has already received, but he wants the funds to keep flowing, just like the blood of over a million Ukraine, Russian, and even North Korean soldiers. It is sad to think that this tiny man could be motivated by personal gain at the expense of the blood and treasure of his people. That may explain his incredibly low approval ratings.