Four Years and Five Weeks

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Trump announces the end of the transatlantic alliance

First it was Emmanuel Macron, putting his hand on Trump’s knee as he publicly corrected Trump in the Oval Office, in the presence of cameras, on the fact that Europe’s contributions to support Ukraine were (a) grants, not loans, and (b) larger than the contributions made by the US. Trump, in turn, tried to toss out his well-worn talking points, but the damage was done. Trump was called out by a foreign leader as a liar, in his very own office and seat of power.

Then it was Keir Starmer, waving a fancy invitation from King Charles to a state dinner, who did exactly the same thing. He publicly corrected Trump in the Oval Office, in the presence of cameras, on Europe’s support for Ukraine. Again, Trump hemmed and hawwed, and embraced the (Starmer: “unprecedented!”) invitation to a second state visit, but the damage was done. Trump was called out by a second foreign leader as a liar, in his very own office and seat of power.

You had to know this would not sit well.

As network after network played the clip of Macron’s hand on Trump’s knee, after all the networks showed Trump fawning over the Bright Shiny Thing that Starmer dangled in front of him, as Starmer very politely called Trump a liar, everyone knew that this would not end well.

And today, it was Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s turn . . . and as anyone with half a brain could anticipate, it *did* not end well.

Personally, I was amused by J.D. Vance’s holier-than-thou whining about Zelenskyy making a benign appearance in Pennsylvania saying “thank you” to the US for their support and calling it Election Interference. I don’t remember Vance taking up umbrage when the head of DOGE Elon Musk appeared and spoke at the national political rally of the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany (AfD) party just days ahead of the recent German election, and who repeatedly praised the AfD via Xitter. After the AfD came in second, with a sizable caucus in the new Bundestag, Musk called the head of the AfD to offer congratulations and called her party the future of Germany, and Vance’s reaction was *crickets*.

Well, to be scrupulously fair, that’s not true. He *did* say something, but rather than condemning such interference, Vance joined it. At the Munich Security Conference, Vance praised the AfD (not by name but by lauding their political positions on immigration and other policies) and attacked mainstream German political parties for refusing to work with the AfD.

Americans might not have been listening to all of this, but the Europeans were – especially the Germans – and they knew exactly who Vance was praising. After the German elections, the victorious chancellor-elect made a stunning statement. From Deutsche Welle:

After his party’s victory in the election was confirmed Sunday night, [CDU party leader Friedrich] Merz said that he wanted to work on creating unity in Europe as quickly as possible, “so that, step by step, we can achieve independence from the US.”

Until recently, this would have been a highly unusual thing for any leader of the CDU to say. After all, it has always had a strong affinity for the US.

“Merz aligns himself with the legacy of historical CDU leaders such as [former chancellors] Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl, both of whom played pivotal roles in strengthening transatlantic relations,” said Evelyn Gaiser, a policy advisor on transatlantic relationships and NATO with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank that is associated with but independent of the Christian Democrats.

[snip]

Merz spoke out after JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in February, in which the US vice president said that the biggest threat to Europe did not come from Russia or China, but “from within.”

“This is really now the change of an era,” Merz said on stage at the MSC. “If we don’t hear the wake-up call now, it might be too late for the entire European Union.”

Add this into the context of withdrawing from the World Health Organization and eliminating all the work done by USAID, and the message is crystal clear. While yes, this meeting today in the Oval Office was about Ukraine, it was really a sign of something much much larger.

In April 2021, when Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress in a non-State of the Union address, he said this:

I’ve often said that our greatest strength is the power of our example – not just the example of our power. And in my conversations with world leaders – many I’ve known for a long time – the comment I hear most often is: we see that America is back – but for how long?

We now know the answer: four years and five weeks.

RIP the Transatlantic Alliance (1945-2025).

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127 replies
  1. dopefish says:

    Over at The Atlantic, David Frum has a good take on this mess: At Least Now We Know the Truth

    American allies urgently need a Plan B for collective security in a world where the U.S. administration prefers Vladimir Putin to Zelensky.

    The American people need to reckon with the mess Trump and Vance are making of this country’s once-good name—and the services they are performing for dictators and aggressors. There may not be a deep cause here. Trump likes and admires bad people because he is himself a bad person. When Vance executed his personal pivot from Never Trump to Always Trump, he needed a way to prove that he had truly crossed over to the dark side beyond any possibility of reversion or redemption; perhaps his support for Russia allowed him to do that. But however shallow their motives, the consequences are profound.

    • dopefish says:

      According to CNN, a reporter for Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS was also present for part of the meeting, even as the AP and Reuters were excluded.

      “TASS was not on the approved list of media for today’s pool,” a White House official told CNN in a statement. “As soon as it came to the attention of press office staff that he was in the Oval, he was escorted out by the Press Secretary.”

      • LadyHawke says:

        So Trump’s handler was in the Oval Office?
        The world got to see Vance and Trump tag-team a genuine intelligent, brave and true patriot, because he didn’t say thank you for the 1001st tune?
        We should thank him for the inspiration he provides all people of good intent.

        • LadyHawke says:

          And it must be nice to have a real president who is not afraid to stand up to Putin.
          (Ooops. Sorry my finger slip put that w at the end of my name.)

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          Trump’s handler? When did Vladimir Putin get a work visa? Or does he already have the first Gold Card Visa, which Trump would have comped rather than try to collect the $5 million.

  2. Ginevra diBenci says:

    I just saw clips of the Vance/Trump pile-on of Zelensky today on Nicolle Wallace’s show. Shame barely begins to express the feelings evoked by our “leaders,” whose stunningly ignorant and nasty and juvenile display should have no place in the Oval Office. How pathetic that it took a pair of these cowards to tag-team Ukraine’s president, who was a guest in OUR White House.

    If I were Europe, or Germany, I would abandon us too–as fast as geopolitically possible. This makes me sick.

    • MsJennyMD says:

      Agree. Yep, tag-team tactics with two bullies, Trump and Vance. Meeting feels like a set up for the media, his followers and Putin. Republicans are enablers.

      Vote for an Ukrainian comedian, get a president. Vote for an American reality show host, get a dictator.

  3. Matt Foley says:

    “You’re in no position to say no” sounds like something Trump would’ve said to his rape victims. JD Vance could barely contain his arousal.

  4. Matt___B says:

    Yes, Musk and the AfD. Don’t forget that at the Munich conference 2 weeks ago, Vance snubbed Scholz (who is now out of power) and had a friendly visit with AfD leader Alice Weidel. What could be a more blatant indication of the Trump admin’s foreign policy than that?

    JD Vance is the very personification of the stereotypical “1950s Dad”: “Say thank you Volodymyr, or you’re going to be grounded tonight! And no supper for you!” What a scold.

    He should have a scold-off contest with Jordan Peterson, who has moved to Florida, because it’s a more friendly environment now than Toronto. I don’t know who’s worse, whiny Jordan or smarmy JD.

  5. Rugger_9 says:

    Convict-1 / Krasnov is such a ‘tough guy’ that he had attack Chihuahua (the metaphor, not the dog) Vance do most of his dirty work for him. Real men don’t need to gang up like that. I’m happy (and surprised) that Zelenskyy didn’t slug him, but any doubt has been removed that the current WH is a Russian asset, top to bottom. Europe will plan accordingly, and FWIW, Sweden and Finland are about to become very busy if Putin expands his war. As it is, Ukraine is holding off Putin and in a couple of sectors are about to encircle substantial RU forces.

    SecDef Hegseth also decided to order Cyber Command to stand down on Russia, and I see no way that makes us more safe. Marco Rubio sat there like a potted plant, proving what Convict-1 / Krasnov said about him on the campaign trail.

    • dopefish says:

      Over at The Bulwark, Sam Stein, JVL and Will Saletan have a good take on ambush that Vance and Trump staged today:
      Breaking: Trump & Vance Pick Nauseating Fight With Zelenskyy

      JVL at about 16:48:

      … but the truth is, that’s not what international relations is about. Its about interests. And properly understood, America’s interests are in the stability of Europe, the stability of free trade and globalism, these are all the things which are good for America. And are why we are involved in NATO. Its why we’ve made such– its why we’ve spent so much money on European stability over the last hundred years: because it is good for us, its not because we are nice people. Its because, our level of prosperity is largely dependent upon it, and if you think that its expensive, to prop up the– not only Ukrainian, but European security, you should see the fuckin price tag of war. Right? That’s what’s really expensive. And the American-led order, the Pax Americana which has made us the wealthiest and most prosperous country in the world, that is over. And it’s over for what? So we can save five dollars on USAID?

  7. P-villain says:

    Today was the most profoundly depressing day so far. I weep for the Ukrainian people. I can’t seem to awaken from this nightmare world. Gonna lick my wounds now and try to rally.

  8. Error Prone says:

    A Linda McMahon tag team extravaganza. Doing everything short of hitting Z repeatedly with a folding chair.

    • Matt___B says:

      Started out with MTG’s boyfriend Brian Glenn (allegedly “press”) asking Zelensky why he wasn’t wearing a suit. That was the setup for what was to follow.

      • chrisanthemama says:

        I saw Sen. Mark Kelly’s response to the Oval debacle, and Sen. Kelly was wearing what looked like an olive-drab military-style shirt. Kudos

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        Musk casual? Zelensky looked significantly more appropriate than the acting president typically does.

  9. Raven Eye says:

    Even though we were not surprised (generally), I suspect that many/most of us were shocked.

    This was so coldly orchestrated, and while Trump may see this as a way of backing out of Ukraine, I don’t think he is aware that there are much larger implications.

    The best result would have been a signed agreement that allowed U.S. non-colonial access to Ukrainian resources. That would have required some security components, because U.S. companies would demand guarantees before investing.

    Second best? A very clear Scarlet Letter for Trump regarding his relationship with Putin. I expect it will galvanize Europe organically, especially the EU and NATO. It will be wildly expensive for Europe, especially in a time where Trump is trying to destroy world-wide trade while simultaneously attempting to do the same thing for the U.S. economy. NATO depends on U.S. production and stockpiles of ammunition, missiles, etc. Will Trump stand in the way of sales to Europe?

    The term “transactional” keeps bouncing around in my head. Diplomacy and politics are not just a series of transactional events that you sign and walk away from. Both are continua. There may be notable milestones, but the process never stops. Trump combines his transactional nature with political ADD and a rigid belief that there can be only one winner.

    Meanwhile, the House and Senate Republicans are suffering from various degrees of cowardice and cranial-rectal inversion.

    • chrisanthemama says:

      Especially Sen. Graham, who is playing the part of a remora firmly attached to trump’s voluminous carcass.

  10. allan_in_upstate says:

    “J.D. Vance’s holier-than-thou whining about Zelenskyy making a benign appearance in Pennsylvania saying “thank you” to the US for their support and calling it Election Interference. I don’t remember Vance taking up umbrage when the head of DOGE Elon Musk appeared and spoke at the national political rally of the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany (AfD) party j …”

    Nor do I remember James Donald Bowman, James David Hamel or whatever alias he’s currently using taking umbrage with Bibi Netanyahu’s many attempts to interfere in American politics, including twice from the well of the House of Representatives during joint sessions of Congress.

  11. Peterr says:

    New from Deutsche Welle, about three hours ago:

    Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukrainian parliament, told DW that Ukrainians feel the way Trump treated Zelenskyy was “unfair, unjustified and unprovoked.”

    Zelenskyy was at the White House to sign a minerals deal that would have marked a new chapter in the relationship between Ukraine and the United States, but the meeting devolved into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance berating Zelenskyy.

    Following the row, Sovsun said there is a lot of “room for the European Union to step in.”

    She said if European and other Western leaders only react by voicing their concerns, Ukraine would be “left to deal with the United States directly.”

    But if they were to come together and offer tangible support like “a list of weapons that we can deliver to Ukrainians right now so that they can continue fighting,” she said such a move would “improve Ukraine’s negotiation position in relation with the United States.”

    Going forward, Sovsun suggested that the main negotiator from Ukraine should be someone else instead of Zelenskyy.

    Sovsun also called for a mediator that both sides can trust for future negotiations, naming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a potential figure.

    The title “leader of the free world” is now up for grabs, with the US president having abdicated that role.

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      Feb 7 from CNN:

      “Ukraine’s air force got a boost in its fight against Russia on Thursday with the arrival of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets from France, along with F-16s from the Netherlands.

      French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed the transfer of the Mirage jets in a post on X, adding the fighters were flown by Ukrainian pilots who have been training for months in France. French President Emmanuel Macron had promised the Mirage jets to Ukraine last summer.”….

      • Peterr says:

        If foreign governments decide that purchasing US weaponry is problematic — fear of contracts being cancelled, for instance — then not only will the French and others gain new customers, but US companies will take a bath. They cost out the pricing of major military projects based not only on how many planes/tanks/etc they will be able to sell to the DOD, but also how many they will sell to our allies. They also know that they can’t sell anything abroad without the consent of the US government.

        There are a lot of defense industry executive who are very very nervous right now.

        • Peterr says:

          This just in from The Times of London:

          A British defence figure, who is not part of the government, was told privately by US officials that it should “recalibrate” its reliance on US equipment. This was after suggestions were allegedly raised within the Trump administration that the UK was getting equipment too cheaply, a British defence figure privy to the discussion said.

          Recounting the conversation in recent weeks, the source said: “They said we shouldn’t be buying US equipment and there was a feeling in the US administration that they should be sending the UK a bill because they have got defence equipment cheaply.”

          The source added: “Some think the UK got an unfairly cheap deal with Trident.”

          American officials said that the UK and others should not assume they can ride out a Trump presidency because JD Vance, the vice-president, could succeed him.

          “We have been trying to tell people to recalibrate. The old certainties are gone,” the officials told the defence expert, who is not a member of the UK government.

          They said that a US administration could put restrictions on kit from the US and that if countries are “deemed not to be doing what you are told you will suddenly find out missiles won’t fire and planes won’t fly. You have got to be careful.”

          Shorter Trump: “Nice country you’ve got here. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.”

        • P J Evans says:

          Peterr says:
          February 28, 2025 at 10:59 pm
          I wonder if anyone’s ever, *ever* used that line on TFG.

        • Rugger_9 says:

          DoD contractors (including Elon) are generally very wealthy organizations and also very dependent upon worldwide sales. That’s a lot of money to leave behind for essentially Warsaw Pact crap for Convict-1 / Krasnov.

        • CVilleDem says:

          I wonder if others are beginning to understand why Trump is such a failure as a businessman.

          And as to JD Vance taking over if Trump dies or gets removed from office:
          No one likes Vance AT ALL, but most important, no one fears him like they do Trump. He will not have any power over Congress because he can’t realistically affect anyone’s re-election. He will truly be a lame duck, with both wings broken.

          But Democrats must be ready, and we must be ready to act with force, fairness, and with intelligence in order to rebuild a Democracy that has been severely damaged. We need a leader like Zelenskyy.

          [Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “CVille Dem” triggering auto-moderation; spaces and letter case matter. It has been edited to reflect your established username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. /~Rayne]

    • posaune says:

      I agree, Mike Rust. Seems like Putin is still smarting from 1991 and this is fired by his revenge.

  13. Peterr says:

    From the Kiev Independent:

    Donald Trump is elected U.S. president after criticizing a war abroad and calling for its end. He negotiates a deal with an adversary of the United States under heavy sanctions, cutting an ally out of their own country’s peace talks. The disastrous deal is viewed as a surrender to the opposition, prioritizing ending the conflict quickly over supporting U.S. allies or long-term stability in the region.

    If that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s what happened in Afghanistan during Trump’s first term in office, and what Ukrainians and their partners fear may be happening to them now.

    When Trump began promising on the campaign trail to end the war in Ukraine, U.K. member of parliament Mike Martin saw “loads of similarities” to how Trump ended the war in Afghanistan.

    “The deal wasn’t a deal, it was a capitulation,” said Martin, who served in Afghanistan and wrote An Intimate War, a book on the conflict. “And that’s what Trump’s trying to engineer here (in Ukraine).”

    Ouch.

  14. PeteT0323 says:

    Could this be an “opportunity” for Europe to step in and supplant the USA?

    Does Ukraine absolutely need the USA to prevail at this juncture?

    I keep having this dream – nightmare – that the USA is in a race with Europe to either leave NATO or NATO to ask the USA to leave the alliance. I don’t particularly think that is a good thing either way, but maybe the least worse of the USA staying but acting as pro Russian as it is.

    • Peterr says:

      It’s not an opportunity. It’s a requirement for European self-defense.

      That’s why Germany’s chancellor-elect said what he said.

    • xyxyxyxy says:

      Adding to your nightmare, I believe that the US does not yet know, from post Trump’s first term, what classified documents Trump wouldn’t return, where the documents are and/or who may have the originals or copies of them, etc.
      And if it’s happening now, who is receiving classified information from him in realtime.

      • Peterr says:

        I disagree.

        I think NARA had a pretty good idea of what documents were missing, which is why they went to the DOJ to force Trump to give them back.

        WE may not know what is missing, but I’m pretty sure that folks within the intelligence community do.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          Including copies?
          Unless they were tapping all his electronic equipment and had continuous surveillance on him.
          And now he is free to keep and/or give away whatever he wishes.
          NATO should not allow the US into any meetings anymore.
          Yes, all a nightmare.

  15. Konny_2022 says:

    The Russian president on Thursday applauded the new US administration for “pragmatism, a realistic worldview” and described initial contacts with the Trump administration as “inspiring a certain degree of hope”.

    “There is a reciprocal mood to work to restore intergovernmental ties and to gradually resolve the huge number of systemic and strategic problems that have built up in the world’s security architecture,” said Putin at a meeting with the leadership of the FSB intelligence service.

    Putin also seemed to suggest that Europe and the UK were attempting to undermine negotiations between Russia and the US.

    This is from The Guardian, on the new Russian ambassador to the US who got his agrément just prior to Zelenskyy’s visit (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/28/russia-appoint-us-ambassador-diplomatic-relations-thaw). And as on cue, Trump had to demonstrate to the world that he wouldn’t sign a bilateral treaty with Zelenskyy.

  16. dadidoc1 says:

    Is there a GoFundMe for Ukraine? I would like to give whatever support I can and I have to believe than I’m not alone.

    • Matt___B says:

      Lifting this paragraph from Tim Snyder’s substack in order to answer your question:

      If you are thinking today about how to help Ukrainians, here are some possibilities: Come Back Alive (Ukrainian NGO that supports soldiers on the battlefield and veterans), United 24 (the Ukrainian state platform for donations, with many excellent projects), RAZOM (an American NGO, tax-deductible for US citizens, which cooperates with Ukrainian NGOS to support civilians), and Documenting Ukraine (a project that helps to give Ukrainians a voice, also tax-deductible for Americans).

  17. Booksellerb4 says:

    Please clap now.
    If you’ve ever heard of the TInkerbell Effect
    – Stewart states that this concept is much like the character Tinkerbell in that she cannot exist unless people believe in her. He says the rule of law does not currently exist in its entirety. He describes the attempts to implement the liberal philosophies embodied by this principle as the basis of common law constitution. This states that “the rule of law, and not parliamentary sovereignty, is the supreme authority of law, placing real limits on the exercise of legislative and executive power.”[5]
    The issue is that it is not easy to formulate and has turned into a product of legal imagination. The author proposes that a connection between the rule of law and democracy is needed to ensure its existence. The Tinkerbell effect is used to try to effectively convince his readers to support his argument. He emphasizes the importance of adhering to or “clapping” for the rule of law because it is so dependent on our belief. – Wiki

    I’m not trivializing or mocking my own internal conflicts here. I am just deeply wounded by the feckless fuckery as occurred in the literal seat of our democracy today, by a pair of Peter Pans lacking so, so, much, but especially lacking their own shadows.

    Sorry if this is way OT.

  18. Critter7 says:

    It looks to me like the Zelenskyy meeting fiasco was a setup; and that Trump had planned it.

    As presented, the supposed minerals deal didn’t make sense. At the same time that Trump was allying himself with Vladimir Putin and calling Zelenskyy a dictator, he was offering to guarantee Ukraine’s security in exchange for the mythical deal. In other words, he was playing on both sides. But it makes sense if one sees the supposed minerals deal as a way to lure Zelenskyy to Washington so Trump and Vance could spring their ambush.

    The tell that today’s meeting was a setup was that Vance struck the first blow. Trump always needs to be the big dog – Vance would not jump out in front of Trump that way unless they both knew the game.

    Why would Trump want to orchestrate what happened today? He always likes a fight, and he like throw red meat to his base. And he knows that the American people are more supportive of aiding Ukraine than of taking Russia’s side. So now Trump can blame Zelenskyy for being ungrateful or disrespectful or whatever, and use that as an excuse to justify his abandonment of Ukraine.

    • Raven Eye says:

      I think one of Trump’s motivations for “his” Ukrainian mineral deal was that it would almost guarantee Putin’s access to the Ukrainian minerals that lie in Russian-controlled Ukraine.

      What a gift to Putin!

    • P J Evans says:

      And somehow there was a reporter from Tass in the room – they aren’t accredited by the WH correspondents’ group. The WH said, later, they didn’t know how Tass got in. (Ha!)
      But AP and Reuters are banned.

      • Peterr says:

        The WH correspondents association has nothing to do with who gets access to the White House, let alone the Oval Office. All press have to get security passes from the WH to get access to the building, and then for an event like this, they need additional approval from the WH staff to get access to the Oval Office itself.

        Accreditation with the WHCA has nothing to do with this. If the WH says they didn’t know how Tass got in, DOGE should shut down the WH security office.

    • zscoreUSA says:

      I’m missing where Trump indicated he was offering to give Ukraine security? I’m not following why Zelensky agreed to the meeting.

      For example here is an article from Wednesday titled “US will not give security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump says |
      US president says Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington, DC, on Friday to sign US-Ukraine critical minerals deal.”

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/no-security-guarantees-yet-in-us-ukraine-minerals-deal-zelenksyy-says

  19. Peterr says:

    Bret Stephens at the NYT:

    If Roosevelt had told Churchill to sue for peace on any terms with Adolf Hitler and to fork over Britain’s coal reserves to the United States in exchange for no American security guarantees, it might have approximated what Trump did to Zelensky. Whatever one might say about how Zelensky played his cards poorly — either by failing to behave with the degree of all-fours sycophancy that Trump demands or to maintain his composure in the face of JD Vance’s disingenuous provocations — this was a day of American infamy.

    That about says it.

    • P J Evans says:

      Zelenskyy didn’t bow down or surrender to their demands. He won.
      (And the guy whining about Zelenskyy not wearing a suit can go take a long trip to see the war up close. We know why Zelenskyy doesn’t wear a suit.)

  20. wa_rickf says:

    At least Ukraine doesn’t have a 34-count convicted felon AND adjudicated sexual assaulter for President, as the United States does.

  21. LaMissy! says:

    Greg Olear wrote the linked post on Thursday, before Trump and Vance’s WWE performance. It seems a prescient summary of where we are.

    That means that aside from all the other stuff, aside from what he’s doing in Ukraine and elsewhere, what it means for the United States is that Putin sees us as the enemy and wants us destroyed—and wants us destroyed in such a way that we participate in our own destruction. And how will he achieve that? By any means necessary.

    What Putin wants isn’t a gain of territory or anything like that. He just wants us gone. He wants us so weak and so fighting with each other and so, you know, fatally wounded that we don’t bother their ambitions anymore. He wants us sick. He wants us broke. He wants us stupid. He wants us fighting with each other. He wants us firing guns at each other. And he wants us isolated from the rest of the world and the rest of our allies. That’s what he wants. He’s said as much. In Dugan’s book, you extrapolate what he means, okay? Those are the things that they want. That’s what they’re trying to do.

    https://gregolear.substack.com/p/ramble-on-putins-rasputin-and-trumps

    • posaune says:

      Putin wants everyone and everything destroyed. Hitler wanted land and money and power. Seems to me that Putin is ultimately destructive and so is the Trump-Elon pair up. Utterly destructive.

      • grizebard says:

        Yes. That is the so-called “mysterious Russian soul” in a nutshell.

        And because Trump is a mere cosplayer, not a real leader, and knowing no better, he slavishly copies him. (Maybe even with a little help from his new “friends”.) . Though characteristically crudely, not subtly.

        Zelensky (as most other Ukrainians) has been dealing with exactly this kind of arrogant self-entitlement for decades, on and off the battlefield, and Trump fatuously imagines that this good man will somehow suddenly kneel and kiss his a**e (ahem) ring live on TV during his miserable dog-and-pony show?

        There is goin’ to be a lot of hurt left in the wake of this self-inflated misanthrope and his acolytes/minders before they’re done. Not least among many of his former supporters.

  22. harpie says:

    About the fvcking suit:

    https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3ljazlpm7ic2o
    February 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM

    GLENN: Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office & you refuse to wear a suit. A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the office. // ZELENSKYY: I will wear a costume after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours. Maybe something better. [VIDEO]

    [MTG boyfriend] Brian GLENN: My second question for President Zelensky: do you ever, why don’t you wear a suit? [laughter] Why don’t you wear a suit. You’re in the highest level in this country’s office and you refuse to wear a suit. I just wanna see…do you own a suit?

    ZELENSKY: Yeah, problem…

    BG [interrupting]: A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting

    ZELENSKY: Really? [crosstalk] I don’t have such…I will wear a costume after this war will finish. Yes. Maybe

    [BG: [gesturing to his own suit] Maybe something like this

    ZELENSKY: Maybe something like yours, yes, maybe something better, I don’t know. [laughter] We will see. Maybe something cheaper than, yeah.

    BG: Thank you.

    Z: Thank YOU.

    • Matt Foley says:

      Questions for Mr. Taylor Greene:
      1. Why don’t you ask Musk why he doesn’t wear a suit and tie?
      2. Why don’t you ask Trump why he doesn’t wear a condom when he’s banging porn stars?
      3. How many bees stung you to make your face so swollen?

    • harpie says:

      About the suit #3, from menswear writer Derek GUY, @dieworkwear:
      [The man writes with a rapier.]

      https://bsky.app/profile/dieworkwear.bsky.social/post/3ljbptvmvvs2v
      February 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM

      There has been a lot of chatter today about Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump, some regarding this moment when White House correspondent Brian Glenn asked if the Ukrainian president plans to wear a suit. I want to address idea in this thread. [VIDEO]

      Much of the commentary on Twitter surrounds whether Zelenskyy was disrespectful by not wearing a suit to the meeting. There are hundreds of tweets at this point, but I’m only showing one, which captures the MAGA sentiment. [screenshots of hilarious MTG and B GLENN tweets]

      One reason why I think respectability is stupid is because it’s often used as a mask. […]

      As a general matter, I also dislike the idea of respectability in dress because the concept is often unevenly applied. It bothered me to see Vance smirking during this moment, as he supposedly champions the forgotten working poor who are most often shamed because of these concepts. [PHOTO]

      Just look at how we view hoodies. […]
      [PHOTOS Zuckerberg and Trayvon Martin]

      FWIW, it’s perhaps worth noting that when Benjamin Franklin visited France between 1776 and 1778 to ask for military support for the then-new-formed United States of America, he wore a coonskin cap. “Proper” French court attire at this time was a powdered wig. […]

      The biggest reason why I dislike the idea of respectability in dress is because it conflates the *appearance* of virtue with *actual* virtue. […]

      Anyway, those are my thoughts. You can choose to dress in certain ways to elicit certain reactions (e.g., perform respectability), but real respect is about more meaningful actions. Important to not conflate how you choose to dress with how you judge others.
      Dress respectability is Victorian ethics.

      • Critter7 says:

        And more about the suit:

        Have the no-suit whiners also been complaining about Elon Musk’s mode of dress when he appears with Trump at the White House for events such as press briefings and cabinet meetings? If so, I missed that.

      • Half-assed_steven says:

        As Tim and JVL noted at The Bulwark yesterday, I’m sure we can eagerly look forward to Mr. Glenn asking the same question of Elon.

        What a dick.

    • harpie says:

      One MORE thing about the fvcking suit: [OY!]

      I recall stories from around 2016 about TRUMP being
      BIG ANGRY with JUNIOR for not dressing in a SUIT
      to join him at a fvcking college football game.

      Am I just imagining this?
      Same dynamic here with a World Leader that’s 10-nth degree times the man T&V are.

      [I am typing SO hard I will probably injure my keyboard today.]

      • Rayne says:

        Why have we never seen Trump and MAGA go after Gym Jordan who can’t bother to wear a suit let alone a sport coat?

        They’ll always ignore their own hypocrisy.

        • harpie says:

          EXACTLY!

          Derek Guy, the menswear writer I linked to above
          just DEMOLISHES these performative assholes.
          [My summarizing absolutely did NOT do it justice.]

          You can choose to dress in certain ways to elicit certain reactions (e.g., perform respectability), but real respect is about more meaningful actions.– Derek Guy

          [I think he’s addressing MTG and her sidekick taking-up-AP’s-space here. ^]

        • Rayne says:

          Reply to harpie
          March 1, 2025 at 11:25 am

          All AP had to do to cover this event is use TASS’s live feed streamed to Russia. *sigh*

          I feel like I’m living in Bizarro World.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        As a fashionista descended from a fashionista who was also a Southern Belle socialite (and expert dressmaker), I learned at my mother’s knee not to judge other people by their clothes. What matters is their manners, and the reason their manners matter is NOT because they know some set of arcane rules from long before Emily Post, but because they express one’s attitude and consideration toward other people.

        Zelensky looked fine. He listened when the boors talked over and interrupted him. He did not interrupt them; he tried to answer what they seemed to pose as questions, only to get preemptively scolded before he could say a single sentence. Under a barrage of bad manners, he alone kept his composure. He alone did not disrespect the Oval Office.

        Its elected occupants disrespected the Oval Office, and their own.

        • harpie says:

          Hi Ginevra!
          I’m not a fashionista…but my mother, too, was an expert dressmaker! <3

          Also, THIS!:

          GdB: [Zelensky] alone did not disrespect the Oval Office.

    • harpie says:

      And more [it’s NOT really] about that SUIT:

      1] Media critic Jeff Jarvis with Google translate re: “suit” -> “kostyum”:

      https://bsky.app/profile/jeffjarvis.bsky.social/post/3ljdcw6lzjc2f

      As for that shameful moment yesterday when the right-wing extremist cosplaying journalist asking about Zelenskyy’s suit and he said he would dress differently upon peace, Google translates “suit” to “костюм” in Ukranian, pronounced “kostyum.” [screenshots]

      I’m sure Zelensky KNEW this.

      2] And related to that, for anyone that’s ever tried to communicate something important in a foreign language:
      https://bsky.app/profile/fmoncomble.tract-linguistes.org/post/3ljci7ct72s2q
      March 1, 2025 at 3:16 AM

      Another thing that struck me about yesterday’s Oval Office disaster is the place of language.

      I’m willing to bet that neither Trump nor Vance would be able to hold an ordinary conversation in a foreign language, yet they submitted Zelensky to a gruelling linguistic ordeal. [THREAD]

      Another thing that struck me about yesterday’s Oval Office disaster is the place of language.

      • harpie says:

        [I should have deleted the final sentence ^ up there.]
        The end of that second THREAD:

        […] That kind of entirely intentional disingenuity is a staple of asserting dominance over a foreign counterpart.

        Along with (for instance) MTG’s mocking French journalist Sonia Dridi for her accent, or the pending executive order making English the official language of the US at the federal level,

        this is further evidence that this administration’s racism and xenophobia are also (but entirely predictably) linguistic.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          I’m so glad you brought this up, harpie. Trump and Vance treated Zelenskyy as if Boorish English were his first language too, interruptions and insults included. I thought Zelenskyy’s use of the word “costume” was brilliant; he alone in that room seemed to grasp the function of political “drag” with its suits and ties serving to formalize the behavior of brutes.

          Of course this went right over the heads of everyone else there. Either they were the brutes themselves or they seemed terrorized, as was intended.

          But not only did Zelenskyy retain his dignity when his “hosts” were forfeiting any claim to their status, he outdid them in their own language. Not easy in the best of circumstances, and virtuosic here.

  24. CitizenSane77 says:

    Great post, Marcy.

    I’m also curious how this has an effect on diplomatic relations in the future. After today, which world leader would be stupid enough to visit Trump and Vance at the Oval Office?

    • Peterr says:

      Peterr, not Marcy — but I appreciate that a post of mine could be mistaken for meeting her level of work!

      The effect is exactly what was in this post. That next-to-last blockquote about the reaction in Germany is not confined to Germany.

      Intelligence services will think twice about sharing information with DC.
      Military services will be preparing contingency plans that do NOT include US support for Europe.
      Humanitarian NGOs already have given up on consistent US support.
      International science associations will be looking at how it might be possible to do their work without US partners.

      This is an international train wreck.

      And that’s before we talk about the North Koreans looking longingly across the border to the South, or the Chinese looking across the water at Taiwan.

      There *will* be foreign leaders who come to the Oval Office, but they know what they will be walking into. I’m more curious about whether Trump would invite any, given how Macron, Starmer, and now Zelenskyy made him look weak and called him a liar. How much international abuse is Trump willing to take?

      • stillscoff says:

        Foreign leaders visiting the White House in the future will, I would hope, follow Zelensky’s model (or that of Churchill’s or Franklin’s noted by harpie above.)

        “The biggest reason why I dislike the idea of respectability in dress is because it conflates the *appearance* of virtue with *actual* virtue.”

        I doubt truer words were ever spoken.

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          In WWI, when the Brit’s pre-war professional army was buried in Flanders, and new recruits were becoming hard to find, army recruiters were still only interested in new officers who had gone to private school and knew how to ride. Not much use where they were going, except for their comportment in the officers’ mess. Tradition, meaning the old hierarchy, dies hard and takes a lot of people with it.

          These were the same people who refused to issue British pilots parachutes, which the French had. The average life expectancy of new pilot was three weeks, they were afraid they would use the parachutes. What they wanted were the aircraft back.

        • Codewalker says:

          Maybe next time Zelensky should wear the same suit as Joe Pesci in my cousin Vinny. “I wore this ridiculous thing for you.”

        • P J Evans says:

          earlofhuntingdon says:
          March 1, 2025 at 1:31 pm
          The US Army had that problem in WW1, also. The National Guard regiments that were called up for active duty had their senior officers removed before being sent to France, because they weren’t Regular Army (meaning “real” Army). It caused a lot of problems, as a result. (My mother’s father was in one of the Guard regiments.)

      • Amicus12 says:

        Exactly. The US led western security alliance that had endured since the end of WWLL ended yesterday. No country on earth will trust the US now to deter or counter foreign aggression.

        This nihilistic abandonment of the free world gains us nothing. It only makes the US exponentially weaker as an actor on the world stage and the world a far more dangerous place.

        The fall out will be everywhere. But I expect non-proliferation will be among the earliest casualties. Were I [fill in the name of national leader] I would certainly be looking for a nuke or three.

        • Peterr says:

          Emmanuel Macron is thinking along the same lines as you are.

          From the Guardian, about two hours ago:

          French president Emmanuel Macron said he is ready to start discussions on nuclear deterrence for Europe, hinting France could help to protect other EU countries, given the security threats posed by Russia.

          European leaders will meet in London on Sunday to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine and they will attend a European Union summit on Thursday.

          Macron told Portuguese TV RTP in an interview he posted on X on Saturday that if Europe wanted to move towards “greater autonomy” in matters of defence and nuclear deterrence, then its leaders should start a discussion about it.

          “I am available to open this discussion…if it allows to build a European force,” he said. “There has always been a European dimension to France’s vital interests within its nuclear doctrine.”

  25. wa_rickf says:

    Donald Trump: “Great TV today”

    Trump is always in game-show host mode. What a clown.

    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      As it turns out, Trump might have been wrong about that. He thought he’d staged a TV show, like The Apprentice, in which he was the Big Star–except different, because now he imagined himself The Hero facing off against (and dominating, because he’s so “tough”) a foreign enemy, Zelenskyy.

      Turns out? Not so much. Aside from perennial asskissers, no one is receiving his little show the way he wanted. Zelenskyy remains the hero. Trump revealed aspects of himself he might have preferred to keep hidden–he showed us all what he must be like when he’s raping you, for example, thus shredding his previous claims of self-control.

    • harpie says:

      wa_rickf and Ginevra, your conversation here reminded
      me of something for long ago ah two days [!] ago:

      Ben Collins reposted: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahweinman.com/post/3ljazz65ijs2x
      February 28, 2025 at 1:29 PM

      Jesus. Well, a rubicon definitely got crossed today

      Who had reposted this:
      https://bsky.app/profile/nikkimcr.bsky.social/post/3ljazqrb5o224
      February 28, 2025 at 1:25 PM

      Even Fox is having trouble getting behind that Oval Office meltdown [VIDEO]

      Is THIS Karl ROVE!?! Anyway, I’ll post a transcript in the next comment.

    • harpie says:

      Transcript of above linked Fox News VIDEO:

      [I think this is Karl] ROVE: If if if it had not been ah if cameras had not been running, but ah the only winner out of today is Vladymir Putin. Ah, this is the a mistake, ah to have ah to have it broadcast. It was a mistake for Zelensky to get his ah sh get his dander up. And it was a it was a mistake for the President and the Vice President to be so public in their in their comments. This put this this was not the moment that should have been televised.

      They should have had those conversations out of camera sight. And I’m confident that then they woulda been able to find a way to move forward, and but it’s really hard when you’ve had the kind of coverage of this moment we’ve now had.

  26. Tetman Callis says:

    I have never been so ashamed of and embarrassed by my nation as I was today. In just five weeks, the Trump reboot has kicked the teeth out of everything good that America has stood for. We will never be able to recover from this. The world that we knew is gone. Our ship of state is helmed now by a bridge crew of madmen and fools, steaming us into perilous waters.

  27. jecojeco says:

    Tom Wolfe’s Mau-Mauing the Flack Catchers describes perfectly what we just witnessed. In addition to all his other moral failings, trump is a shake down artist, the Extortionist-in-Chief.

    All heads of state are forewarned to avoid this White House, it’s a shakedown trap.

    trump just re-habbed Neville Chamberlain’s reputation

  28. harpie says:

    Yesterday, Marcy Reposted this from Yashar Ali:

    https://bsky.app/profile/yasharali.bsky.social/post/3ljbdrj7nqs2t
    February 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM

    1. The White House appears to have edited out a portion of the video footage from President Trump’s Oval Office meeting with President Zelenskyy. […] [THREAD]

    In the second post we can see/hear the WH VIDEO and
    in the next we see the entire [unedited] section from C-Span [I think].

    I think the break he’s talking about in the first comes at about [0:30].

    This is where ZELENSKY is talking about the agreement and Ukraine’s big storage capability
    for LNG [Liquid Natural Gas] being good for Ukraine and “for security of European continent” […]

    I’ll post a transcript in the next comment.

    • harpie says:

      [2nd VIDEO] ZELENSKY: [0:05] In the document there is one of the very important points if we speak about business investment. We never had LNG terminals in Ukraine. This document will open, I mean the next document, but anyway, this here

      [**This is where the WH VIDEO breaks**]

      we see in the framework we we see, we see a really good for LNG terminals. For us it’s very important, and I think for security of European continent. We have the biggest storage, gas storage, we have the biggest in Europe, yes and we can use it. You can use it for LNG, use it for [*??*].

      We will do it. And really, we can help Europe because Europe really helped, President Trump said that they [0:46]
      [**see TRUMP’s reaction here**]

      [President Trump said that they] made less support, but
      they are our friends, and they are our very supportive partners.
      They really gave a lot, Mr. President. Really, they did.

      [TRUMP [**interrupting**]: But they gave much less.]

      ZELENSKY: No [1:00 END 2nd VIDEO]
      [3rd VIDEO] ZELENSKY: No. [banter back and forth.]

      The section omitted from the WH tape continues…I didn’t listen to it all.

      • harpie says:

        “This document…the next document” also seems to indicate
        that there was NOT agreement on some of the wording…

        …so NO “deal” was reached.

        …but the “framework” is really good for Europe.
        SOME people would definitely NOT be OK with that.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          harpie, thank you for filling in the deliberately contrived blank. These people really believe they can lie, edit, and bully their way to absolute power.

          A good place to recommend (again) Steve Benen’s Ministry of Truth, in which their methods are laid out with newly relevant examples. I found it empowering and useful. In the flood of books by Smart People lately, this one remains a standout.

        • harpie says:

          Thanks for the recommendation, Ginevra…
          I will TRY to read that.

          And speaking of your recommendations [Anne Nelson, Shadow Network],
          I’ve been thinking we ALL should be talking much more
          about the Council for National Policy right now.

  30. Stephen Calhoun says:

    Disinvestment cannot lead to a great America, to a golden age, or to sustainable power.

    I’m inexpert yet I sense autocracy is not going to be good for the consumer economy.

  31. harpie says:

    Here’s a link to Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American for yesterday

    Letters from an American, February 28, 2025
    https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2025
    Heather Cox Richardson Mar 01, 2025

    Today, President Donald Trump ambushed Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in an attack that seemed designed to give the White House an excuse for siding with Russia in its war on Ukraine. Vice President J.D. Vance joined Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office—his attendance at such an event was unusual—in front of reporters. Those reporters included one from Russian state media, but no one from the Associated Press or Reuters, who were not granted access. […]

  32. David F. Snyder says:

    One thing not picked up on (maybe I missed it) is that Vance was called out by Zelenskyy as too radical back in his interview with The New Yorker (posted September 24 , 2024 (https: //www.newyorker. com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/volodymyr-zelensky-has-a-plan-for-ukraines-victory)). This explains why Vance was there in the first place . As is the MAGA way Vance had to “defend his honor”/fragile male ego (thus illustrating Zelenskyy was spot-on in the first place).

    Also:
    It’s rich, the whining about Z’s outfit as disrespecting the Oval Office by two men in suits disrespecting the Oval Office by their acting like two petulant teenagers with anger management issues.

    Also, why should Z say thank you to two men for securing Ukraine aid that those two men themselves had nothing to part in helping to secure (and, more likely, obstructed)?

    Z perhaps failed to be diplomatic in that criticism of Vance, but T&V committed a much larger and more consequential error in statecraft.

    • Cheez Whiz says:

      I’m convinced Vance was there simply as a wingman, someone to tagteam Trump in their kafabe performance. While fully compliant, Rubio is completely unsuited for that role. And the performance was a fig leaf for abandoning Ukraine, just as Musk’s ludicrous wastefraudandabuse is a fig leaf to cover for dismantling the regulatory state. They are performing for their base, who “believe” the performance because it pleases them to do so, and reduces the right people to sputtering rage,

      • Peterr says:

        Rubio knows that he is the one who is going to be fielding all the calls, cables, and expressions of outrage from his counterparts around the world. Trump and Vance made Rubio persona non grata in 90% of the West and a fair chunk of the rest of the world.

        For the career folks at State, I have a great deal of sympathy, as I know many of them will be trying their best to salvage what they can of US relationships around the world — if not for tomorrow, then for five years from now. But for The Secretary, I have no sympathy at all.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          During the meeting, Rubio looked as if he had been forced to swallow a powerful emetic beforehand, and was having profound difficulty keeping his gorge down.

          Afterward, however, he publicly signed on, with requisite praise for Fragile Donald. He too has fully become what Mr. diBenci likes to call a “Dignity Wraith,” a category Lindsey Graham pretty much defines.

  33. PeteT0323 says:

    Methinks probably worth your time to watch as it is a somewhat complete accounting of policy changes of the Trump admin that favor Russia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn9BTALjtLY

    At 7:55, as applies to Ukraine, see the specific and targeted aid US initiative that is (and was always) going away this coming week. Hint – it deals with Ukraine’s electric grid a fav Putin target.

    • xyxyxyxy says:

      Trump and his project 2025 is a Putin plant.
      The Red Scare or Cold War got the US to gather troops and bullets and use them in Grenada, Cambodia, Korea, Cuba, Laos, Viet Nam, Germany and who the hell knows what other involvements.
      The Republicans were always scared of the Reds (better dead than red), but now the Reds have the US without having to fire one bullet.
      They’re racing to destroy and get entrenched in our system(s).
      The US needs to act now and fast or it’s doomed.

  34. Memory hole says:

    With all the outrageous statements and actions of Trump and Vance yesterday, i thought Trump really showed his demented insanity when he complained about how much Putin went through with him. All the Russia Russia witch hunt that Putin went through. All the way to that “witch hunt” getting it’s beginnings in Hunter Biden’s bathroom.
    And to think The Onion used to come up with the craziest stories. Not any more.

    • xyxyxyxy says:

      And the National Enquirer had some crazy stories for and about Trump.
      And the NYPost is a hot commodity with daily circulation of over 500,000.

    • LaMissy! says:

      I would not speculate how much of Trump’s behavior is his usual malignant self and how much is dementia, but professionals might.

      From a psychiatrist posting on Bluesky:

      I’m a psychiatrist. 47 looks more demented today than I’ve seen him look since the election. His staff manage him with golf & flattery & short pressers in the morning.

      In this mtg he’s unable to contain his aggrieved rage about Hillary & Obama & Hunter Biden & “witch hunt” & “Russia Russia Russia”…

      …Yes. Confabulation is very common with dementia as well. The slide into severe cognitive impairment is usually slow. A person in early to middle stages of dementia is unconsciously aware of their decline, so they make shit up to buttress their sense of still being on top of things.

      https://bsky.app/profile/fiona-webster22.bsky.social/post/3ljbbrkd7422j

      • Phillatius says:

        Clinical psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal have been beating that drum on that score since April 2024 in hopes (unsuccessful as it turned out) of catching the attention of the MSM and the public at large not only to his “early signs of dementia,” but (and?) also to his severe personality disorder as a malignant narcissist who thrives on destroying and humiliating.

        Catch their weekly (Friday) Shrinking Trump podcast—Apple, Spotify, YT, Audible—when they analyze the weeks events, point out “collaborators and resistors of the week,” have extended conversations with expert guests, and look for ways to help us cope. With a strong dose of Buddhist radical acceptance.

        • P J Evans says:

          Those of us who read here, and other locations, learned about his dementia and mental problems some years back.

      • John Paul Jones says:

        My own experience with dementia with ageing parents surprised me because of the confabulation, i.e., people living in the basement with the same names, and doing nasty things to the upstairs people and when my mother moved into a home, people “upstairs” controlling things and dissing the lower-class residents downstairs. What struck me about it, especially in extended conversations, was the way in which the logic of the confabulation, that is, how the stories/persons/situations were described greatly resembled the logic of dreams, where stories/persons/situations constantly morph into different times and spaces and moods. In a sense, I felt, having dementia was like being marooned in a dream-space. It makes sense to the dreamer, but they’re not able to communicate that sense to an “outsider.”

        • Lostinmesa says:

          Dealing with my mother’s dementia, I found that she was taking PM medications all day, which contributes to the ‘dream state’.

          One thing that really hit me was that there was an almost constant state of fear- that I think always existed.

          My mom is always the heroic victim in her fantasies/ delusions… but, there is also that constant fear underlying it all.

          There is some larger meaning/ message in this, that I struggle to articulate… but, I am searching for a way to tap into that fierce joy, that freedom from fear, that we can find in life.
          With my mom, I started playing music (she forgot she liked music). It helped some- but, she doesn’t watch tv or even read news- it’s internalized.

    • SteveBev says:

      Re Trump becoming more demented and complaining about Putin being victimised alongside him.

      My experience with demented people (both my patents, the parents of my partner, and of brother in law) and through discussion with other experienced carers informs me as follows: in dementia people seem to become shrivelled indeed concentrated versions of their pre-existing personalities; brittle, irritable, defensive, selfish, personalities become more so; and kind, sociable personalities are rather more accepting, compliant, grateful for the help they receive and concerned not to be a burden.

      Trump being empathic and or concerned about anther person, even Putin is at odds with Trump’s personality; unless it was something Trump was told by Putin, in an effort to by Putin to mimic empathy for Trump, and so implant and reinforce in Trump a sense of a shared experience and so a bond with Putin.

      And from Trump’s mouth, the complaint was really all about Trump, all about how much he, Trump was made to suffer, and to the extent that even his friend was made to suffer in an effort to punish Trump more.

      I don’t recall Trump ever having expressed on any previous occasion the idea Putin was traduced by the ‘Russia hoax’.

      And I am extremely doubtful that these thoughts originated solely from Trump’s mind.

  35. Savage Librarian says:

    Fun fact: Elon Musk’s son, (aka X,) was dressed far better than him when they visited Trump in the Oval Office. Also, according to the wiki of X’s mother, Claire Boucher (aka Grimes,) her grandmother was Ukrainian. So, Elon’s son is of Ukrainian heritage. I wonder what he’ll think about all this when he is old enough to understand.

  36. Zinsky123 says:

    I heard a psychiatrist talking on Sirius XM Progress and he said we are seeing the inevitable end game of an aging malignant narcissist who has access to extraordinary levers of power! Malignant narcissists want EVERYTHING and if they can’t everything, they want to burn it all down, so no one can have everything. Trump’s tiny, doltish brain is just starting to comprehend that he will NEVER have it all, like Putin, because America is still kind of a democracy and people will not let him steal whatever he wants.

    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      Zinsky123, I think your diagnosis is likely correct–of Trump, that is. I wish I agreed about the nation. Trump IS actually getting everything he ever wanted: all the money (from his many grifts), all the power, all the acquiescence in the form of a comatose GOP trifecta.

      What’s eating him–and I believe he suppresses this with all his might, and mixed success–is that his body is reaching the end of its useful life. I don’t know how old you are, but at a certain point it gets hard/impossible to deny that death will, in fact, get you too. Trump’s death-denial is pathological, but he’s having a harder and harder time hiding that bald spot; his corpus is congealing and swallowing his neck; the makeup gets less convincing every day. To a man of his vanity, this must be unbearable.

      And so he takes it out on everyone he can. With his vast powers, a narcissist president angry over the fact of death itself can do vast damage.

      • P J Evans says:

        I’m several years younger than The Felon Guy, but I’m not denying mortality. (Too many people in my family younger than me have already died.)

  37. bgThenNow says:

    Peterr, thank you for this post. It is revolting, all of this sick TV.

    OT from the horrors we are witnessing, the making of the US into a third world country like Russia, but I have been thinking about the sermons you must be preparing in these times. I know a woman who also is writing these sermons. I had the thought that perhaps some of the sub stackers like Rosenberg and Rubin/others might be open to adding your various voices as another form of support and guidance during this time. I fell away from my religious upbringing decades past, but I think I would like to hear you and others like you. Could you make videos of your sermons to share? Not from the pulpit, if that is inappropriate, but from your offices? These are such perilous times, so much loss and mourning our democracy and the decades we have been privileged to have enjoyed. So much more suffering at home and even worse, abroad. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to pitch this idea.

  38. Thomas Paine says:

    I think the last few days should have convinced everyone with an open mind that Trump and Vance are Russian assets. Zelenskyy’s only “sin” was telling Trump to his face and to the assembled media that you cannot trust Putin and so you cannot make a deal with him, because he is a pathological liar. Further, Putin does not respect anyone and certainly not the sovereignty of Ukraine, the EU or the United States. What Putin does respect is nuclear physics and so I think the best move to deter Putin in Europe is for the EU Defense alliance to field another 1000 nuclear armed IRBM’s and station them in Germany, Poland and other eastern countries and back them up with the U.K. and French SLBM assets. Putin understands that a first strike from Poland would vaporize Moscow before he could lift a finger to respond.

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