Democratic lawmakers rushed to defend Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader was publicly berated by Donald Trump in a disastrous Oval Office meeting.

The US president accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with world war three” while his vice-president, JD Vance, called the Ukrainian leader “disrespectful”, before cutting short talks aimed at kicking off the process of ending Kyiv’s three-year war with Russia.

Zelenskyy abruptly left the White House soon after without signing a rare critical minerals deal with the US that Trump has said is the first step toward a ceasefire agreement that he is seeking to broker between Russia and Ukraine.

MBFC
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  • merc@sh.itjust.works
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    14 days ago

    The idea that Trump is a Russian agent, or that Putin has kompromat on him and so he’s dancing to Putin’s strings is just ridiculous. It’s not impossible, but it’s so incredibly unlikely.

    Having said that, this is exactly how Putin would want Trump to act if he were a Russian agent. It’s also hard to believe that any US president would be this pro-Russia if the Russians didn’t have blackmail material on him.

    If Trump pushed any harder for pro-Russian / anti-American policies there’s a chance the GOP might actually grow a spine and stop him. He has a slim majority in the senate, and he’s already doing things that are causing GOP senators to vote against him. If he were a Russian agent his handlers wouldn’t want him to lose control over the GOP, because then he’d no longer be useful to them.

    So, here we are in a situation where either the US president is a Russian asset, or he’s not but might as well be.

    All the spy thrillers of the cold war prepared me for a world where politicians were brainwashed and blackmailed. What they didn’t prepare me for was a world where these politicians were enthusiastically supported by their parties despite there clearly being something wrong with their decisions.

    • 𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕖@lemmy.world
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      14 days ago

      Why is it unlikely that he’s a Russian agent?

      This started in the 90s when Trump lost all of his inherited money, had half a billion dollars in debt and stayed afloat with Russian money.

      Russia has, demonstrably, influenced the 2016 elections in his favor. If he wasn’t indebted until 2016, he sure was after.

      His „business“ ties to Russia are so numerous, there’s a separate Wikipedia page just on that topic.

  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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    14 days ago

    Oh man “Dummies”!

    They SLAMMED them, guys. That’s a Democrat SLAM! Trump will never recover.

    Thanks for saving America, you fucking useless, dickless Democrats.

    • AxiomShell@lemmy.ml
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      13 days ago

      He still has to recover from “peace in 24h” and all those minerals he won’t be getting…

      • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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        13 days ago

        His followers don’t care.

        I don’t know how to describe what’s going on to people who aren’t here in America, because I don’t get it either. But they don’t care. They aren’t just stupid, they’re also mean spirited and heartless.

      • Placebonickname@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        The only way Trump could be more treasonous at this point is if somebody could prove that he was taking cash from Putin to fuck over Ukraine.

        I hope somebody steps in in 25th amendments this guy‘s ass …

  • 𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕖@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    As if that’s not exactly how they planned it to go: look like they are willing to sign a deal, make it blow up with outrageous last minute amendments, and then pretend Zelenskyy is uncooperative.

    Straight out of Putins playbook. It’s obvious he’s calling the shots in DC for the next 4 years.

    • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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      14 days ago

      Was Putin also calling the shots when Europe’s deal required Ukraine sell off its ports and power grid?

      Ukraine was always going to get stripped for parts, that’s why the west invested billions in making it happen.

      • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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        14 days ago

        What scenario doesn’t Ukraine get stripped for parts by some “empire” in your worldview? Because you obviously think that russia’s invasion was the west’s decision too. And Ukraine’s decision not to roll over is also US imperialism or whatever.

          • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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            14 days ago

            If that’s how you see it, it’s been in this trajectory since 1993, 2004, 2007, 2014, 2022. Russia would always come back to reclaim Ukraine, like they did Georgia, what do you suggest they should have done? What should Canada do if trump tries to annex it, rollover?

  • American_Jesus@lemm.ee
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    14 days ago

    Imagine Roosevelt or Churchill accusing Poland of starting the WWII for defending itself from Nazi German.

    Trump is a russian assent “just wants peace”

  • Absaroka@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    Just when you thought you couldn’t get any more embarrassed being an American.

    This is a great window into how Trump, Vance and MAGA do business.

    Bully. Yell. Lie. Threaten.