It's Trump Vs. Zelenskyy And Our Allies In The Oval. Where's Daddy Putin Now, Donald?
Probably in an earpiece or something?
While Washington DC was becoming more like Russia, down to the Winter Palace decor of the Oval Office, Friday saw a jaw-dropping, disgusting ass-kissing of war criminal Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in Alaska by one Donald J. Trump. And then on Monday, another shameful show in Washington DC with European leaders, that’s still going on as you read this, see livestream down below.
Such shocking scenes, starting with the president — of the United States of America — on Friday, commanding soldiers of the US military to roll out the red carpet, literally, on their hands and knees, for the Russian president-for-life/murderer of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and kidnapper of children.
If grandma was alive to see it, she would have assumed Moscow nuked DC and half the US was irradiated zombies to get a result like that.
And not only did Putin not promise even five minutes of ceasefire in exchange for Trump’s warm hospitality and a private ride in The Beast, Putin barely landed in Moscow before he commanded more attacks on Ukraine, sending five attack drones to bomb an apartment building in Kharkiv at 5 a.m. while the residents were sleeping, killing at least seven. (WARNING, GRAPHIC)
Putin and the Russian military were nothing but emboldened by Friday’s love-fest. How emboldened? Well:
And so with the talks an abject failure for everybody but Putin, and with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to meet in the White House Monday, European leaders scrambled into YIKES EMERGENCY action, convening on the White House today to stage an intervention before The Dotard tries to give away a piece of Europe that doesn’t belong to him, while all around them DC is occupied like some kind of war zone itself.
Not only has Trump not sanctioned Russia like he’s been saying he will do since January, since Friday he’s been directly parroting Putin’s demands that Zelenskyy hand over parts of Ukraine to Russia, including areas that they have not even managed to occupy, in exchange for Ukraine accepting nothing but vague and shifting security assurances. Trump has also been stomping his cankle on his shitty website that Ukraine should not join NATO, as if that’s a thing he or Putin can demand.
European leaders are showing up for their ally (eight months ago, our ally too) Ukraine, because they know exactly what a dictator with imperialist fantasies can lead to, and what kind of a boundary-stomping bloodthirsty liar Putin is. And backstabber Trump is. Trump has already cut off aid and weapons to Ukraine, then on, then off again. The US is now planning to selling European countries American-made weapons, which they’re buying with money they’ve seized from Russian oligarchs’ frozen assets.
There’s now 31 countries who support Ukraine with their own partnership, the Coalition of the Willing, headed by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to keep weapons and aid flowing to Ukraine. So do what you will, Team Dictators, because Ukraine is going to make like Corey Hart and never surrender, while Prump and Tootin’ weave and breathe their story lines.
The list for today’s meeting is an incredible, unprecedented coterie, which goes to show what a goddamn alarming state of affairs this is: French President Emmanuel Macron; Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain; President Alexander Stubb of Finland; Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany; Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy; NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte; and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm. All there to help stand up for Ukraine and Zelenskyy, like real allies do, and support and defend them against Putin and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ham-head troll boyfriend Brian Glenn’s attacks on Zelenskyy’s outfit. Which he brought up almost immediately as the the pre-meeting press scrum kicked off.
And it just got stupider from there. Trump has always been determined to give Putin everything he has ever wanted, and his first “free” campaign manager was even Paul Manafort, who helped Zelenskyy’s pro-Russia, pro-corruption, anti-NATO predecessor Viktor Yanukovych get elected in 2010. And of course we all remember Trump’s first impeachment, when he extorted Zelenskyy to Do Him A Favor Though and dig up dirt about the Bidens, or else he’d withhold the weapons and aid Congress had already appropriated for Ukraine to defend itself.
Has Trump Been Extorting Ukraine Literally Since The Beginning Of His Presidency? Looks Like Maybe!
Trump has personally resented Zelenskyy ever since he resisted that shakedown, and both Trump and Putin would like an easily corrupted supple puppet in his job instead.
Anyway, naturally Trump started in on calling Russia’s invasion “Biden’s War.”
He repeated the line Putin fed him about mail-in ballots.
And said Putin was expecting his call the second that the meeting was over. Can’t make Daddy wait, or he’ll get grounded!
And he talked about a hypothetical third term, implying Zelenskyy is a dictator for refusing to hold elections while Ukraine tries to defend itself from Putin’s war.
What are the security guarantees for Ukraine? Well, it’ll be something “that works” and is “good.” Might it be US boots on the ground? He’ll tell everybody that “later today.” Why won’t everybody just trust him, jeez!
And, uh, what?
AND THEN OMG.
Since he mentioned it, yeah, it does sound pretty crazy, starting with how the old man doesn’t seem aware of where he is. Or he does, and is making a show of calling Putin to make everybody jealous of their best-friendship for the reality show he’s starring in in his mind. Either way, he’s in his own private narcissistic la la land.
Then the European leaders surrounded Trump at a table. Trump huffed that a ceasefire wasn’t necessary to end a war, which explains his logic on claiming to have ended six of them.
And the European leaders were like yes, the fire must cease to end a war, dummy.
And Putin needs to return the kidnapped kids, too, and what even are these security guarantees you’re on about?
By press time, no new breakthroughs. Trump will do a trilateral meeting with Putin and Ukraine sometime. He’ll give everybody the security assurance details of the peace plan details one of these days. Another kick of the can down the road, and another day Putin is still keeping at it!
Alternative stream:
OPEN THREAD!
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I got my Cleveland library card and filled out/mailed the forms to register to vote here. Guess I'm staying. That was much more emotionally charged than I realized. After I got my card I went to the grocery store and cried while looking at butter. I did find something silly because I am basically a child, on my receipt it said I bought LOL Butter and that made me giggle, it's Land O'Lakes, but now it is forever known as LOL Butter.
Open Thread Chat Aug. 18, bunnies eating berries.
https://substack.com/chat/1783367/post/21c565bd-925a-4e41-b129-88dff5d8ead9