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Welcome to logoff. Today, I focus on a disastrous meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian President Voldimi Zelenki. The hostile conversations have immediate consequences for Ukraine's war efforts, revealing much about how Trump sees America's new global role.
What happened instead? What began as a polite meeting was effectively left to ambush after Russia's Vladimir Putin questioned what would happen to Zelensky if he defeated the ceasefire. As the cameras rolled, Trump and Vance denounced Zelensky in their oval offices, accusing him of overreaching American support. After the meeting, Zelensky left the White House signed a mineral contract, and Trump issued a statement that Ukrainians could “come back when peace is ready.”
What now? Trump says he is still pursuing a peace deal, but it appears that Ukraine will likely have even less leverage since Friday. The key question for Ukraine is security guarantees from the US. Putin opposed, and Trump resisted. Zelenskyy's outlook certainly worse than when he woke up this morning.
What is the overall picture? The conference is a shocking display of Trump's attitude towards the world, a radical break he represents from America's previous role in the world order. In a few very charged minutes, he flushes the fragile US Ukraine Alliance, publicly humiliating foreign leaders, tying them even closer to Putin, summarizing “This will be a great TV – I'll say it.”
And so, it's time to log off…
Watching Trump Vance Zelensky's video puts me at risk by an anxiety-driven YouTube scrolling session. I was rescued by Vox's I explained today Podcast. There are fascinating episodes about the Oscar foreign film category. Specifically, it is about a “German” filmed in Iran (and secretly) with an Iranian actor and an Iranian director. We hope you enjoy it.
Finally, we would like to thank everyone who signed up for our new Saturday “Good News” newsletter. If you missed it yesterday, it's a weekly hope for these troubled times. You can sign up here. Have a great weekend. See you here on Monday.
