Thoughts on the Trump-Zelensky Meeting

The other day I posted the following to my social media platforms:

I could barely watch the press conference with Trump/Vance and Zelensky.As Americans we should be embarrassed. Zelensky held his own against two gaslighting clowns, I’ve seen multiple comparisons to abusers.We could have had so much better, instead we elected Russian assets.

In response, one of my Facebook friends who is a lifelong Republican (we were friends before I realized he was Republican and as a rule I tend not to unfriend or block people out of spite) asked if I had watched the whole meeting or just the arguing at the end. To which I responded:

I did [watch the whole meeting], even though I literally am made dumber every time I listen to Trump speak. I am not sure what in the earlier part you think would change my mind.

I saw a Ukrainian president explain what has happened to his country as it gets ravaged by war after a dictator invaded it, while still trying to appease the ego of the men next to him. I saw our figurehead of a president (literally [had other Republican acquaintances on Facebook] who said Trump and Vance should have let Musk do the talking) discuss American interests with his trademark “concepts of a plan”, barely acknowledging the security implications or any concrete numbers as he tried to both-sides the war. It was actually impressive that he even spouted those talking points while he spent so much effort to put down his predecessors (including Washington) even though he’s in that mix. He focuses more on his own legacy (he decided to overhype his election victory again) than the humanitarian crisis. Every time he spoke he made it clear he has barely any idea of the geography or politics of anywhere. And he kept trying to make Ukraine look worse.

Trump is also convinced that he is more respected than he actually is. He thinks he can bluster his way into anything and other countries’ leaders will just roll over for him just like too many of our politicians do. The thing that Vance said about Biden thumping his chest, that’s literally what Trump did and is doing. “I’ve stopped many wars that people never heard about”? Give me a break. Someone asked him what if Putin reneges and he just avoided the question.

Vance also claims that he believes that Americans have the right to speak their mind but very little from this administration reflects that. He’s good at sounding less insane than Trump while lying openly, but even that ability failed him this time.

And then when the argument finally started, Trump and Vance were such gaslighters. The “have you ever said ‘thank you’ once” question was the tip of the immature iceberg on their part. Zelensky literally pointed out facts and Trump and Vance lost their shit because he wasn’t praising them, yelling at him for trying to be objective. Even made a Hunter Biden-Russia bullshit remark in his nonsensical rant. Whatever Trump owes Putin, we and Ukraine are suffering for it.

In response, the friend asked: “Which country needs peace in Ukraine more: Ukraine or the United States?”

(I honestly never know if he’s trying to make me think more critically or just being willfully obtuse when he asks questions like this, but I responded earnestly.)

That’s the wrong question, because we both need peace there. Ukraine needs it immediately, the US needs it before it hits our shores or affects us in some other way more than it already has. The question with this is can we be an actual ally to Ukraine, rather than a blustering bully of a Russian prop?

Looking at our current president and his cronies. I don’t have a good answer.