President Donald Trump’s massive ego recently exploded on national television as he threatened Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to “make a deal or we are out” because “you don’t have the cards.”
But demands are not deals, and Zelensky insisted on playing his own hand. That’s when President Trump folded. It seems Trump will only play when the game is rigged so the White House wins.
President Zelensky instead courageously argued that Putin can’t be trusted to honor diplomacy since he’s repeatedly broken his word and violated agreements with Ukraine and the U.S. ever since Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. That’s when Vice-President J.D. Vance (who recently bragged at the Munich Security Conference that “We may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.”) hypocritically scolded the Ukrainian President for insolently speaking freely in front of the press.
And as the U.S. President yelled at Zelensky in the Oval Office for ingratitude, Trump also defended and empathized with the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin. “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me” over the impeachment scandal during his first term in office. “He wants to make a deal,” said Trump. “I don’t know if you can make a deal.”
In other words, President Zelensky found himself defending his nation from attack not only by a ruthless Russian dictator but by an American President and Vice-President who demanded his gratitude for, and submission to, a peace deal brokered by and for America and Russia, but at the cost of Ukrainian sovereignty.
Indeed, President Trump’s exhibited his mercenary tell when he sent American negotiators to Saudi Arabia to meet with their Russian counterparts to improve their economic relations but did not invite President Zelensky to negotiate an end to the war. Then Trump demanded Ukraine agree to repay America for its past support in the form of rare minerals.
Though Trump claims that a mineral deal would deter future Russian incursions that may endanger American personnel and trigger a U.S. response; industry experts predict mineral extraction “could take years to produce results, long after Trump’s term ends.” In other words, as soon as the ink dries on any mineral deal, or any peace deal for that matter, there’s nothing to guarantee Trump’s America First policy won’t leave Ukraine at the mercy of Putin, whose intent has long been to absorb Ukrainian territory and overwrite Ukrainian culture with Russia’s.
Indeed, Trump admitted that Ukraine “may be Russian someday.” He also falsely claimed that Ukraine had “started” the war and that Zelensky was a “dictator.” He even voted with Russia on a UN resolution calling for Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine. The only reason that Zelensky has “no cards” to play is that The Dealer-in-Chief refuses to deal him in. Who would trust such a double dealer?
Indeed, Zelensky wouldn’t even need a “deal” with Russia if the Trump administration supported America’s historical status as a champion of democracy when invaded by power hungry aggressors, as it did after Hitler invaded Europe during WWII, as it did when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and as it had been doing when Putin invaded Ukraine.
Likewise, in the wake of WWII, neither President FDR nor President Truman had asked Europe to pay for U.S. support against the likes of Hitler or Hirohito. In fact, President Truman signed the Marshall Plan that provided foreign aid to rebuild Europe after the war. And after the two Gulf Wars, the U.S. withdrew without demanding payment.
Trump, however, declared “I would take the oil. You’re not stealing anything. We’re reimbursing ourselves … at a minimum, and I say more. We’re taking back $1.5tn to reimburse ourselves…. You know, it used to be to the victor belong the spoils.”
Unlike Trump, who has degraded America foreign policy into mercenary deals, Presidents FDR, Truman, and George H.W. Bush understood that America protects itself when it defends and strengthens its allies. Consequently, during both Gulf Wars and the 9/11 terrorist attack, the free world fought at our side. Former presidents understood what has made America historically great in the eyes of the world has been when it stands on high moral ground.
But President Trump’s vainglory double dealing to enrich America, and maybe earn him a Nobel Peace Prize, demands Ukraine forfeit its very soul. It’s an absolute devil of a deal.
Thomas Cangelosi is a retired teacher who lives in Avon.