Art of the "Undeal"
NEVER BEFORE SEEN, NEVER BEFORE IMAGINED …
The scene unfolding before us on live television, in what should have been a brief Oval Office media spray, was extraordinary. The leader of the free world, Donald J. Trump, openly attacked the visiting president of our European ally, Ukraine, and passionately defended Vladimir Putin, the brutal communist dictator of our long-time foe, Russia, instead.
The President and JD Vance, the vice president of the United States, berated Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy because he allegedly was not sufficiently thankful that Mr. Trump was browbeating him into signing away 50% ownership of his critical mineral rights to the United States and was showing the United States disrespect “… in its cherished Oval Office.”
What was to have been a signature signing ceremony for Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy, and a potential end to the Russia-Ukraine War that has lasted more than three years, devolved into a bitchfest by Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance anchored by long-harbored animosities about presidents Obama and Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Robert Mueller “Russia, Russia, Russia” investigation, and the erstwhile laptop saga of Hunter Biden.
Mr. Trump charged that the Ukrainian leader had “no cards” to play in the negotiation for peace with Russia and could be enticing World War III. Mr. Trump warned Mr. Zelenskyy, “You’re gambling with lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”
The president of Ukraine pushed back against President Trump, suggesting instead that he offer security guarantees given Russia’s aggression since first invading Crimea in 2014. Zelenskyy admonished Trump noting, “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious.”
Self-described to be a highly accomplished dealmaker, Trump brought the Zelenskyy mineral rights signing ceremony to a decidedly un-ceremonial screeching halt, canceling the deal, an afternoon-scheduled joint news conference highlighting the mineral rights agreement, and ushering Mr. Zelenskyy out the front gates of the White House and onto Pennsylvania Avenue well before the appointed hour.
Rather than showing Mr. Trump’s “art of the deal” skills, the upended Zelenskyy meeting showcased the 47th president of the United States’ expertise at the “art of the undeal.” Never before has an American president and vice-president shown such amateur foreign policy skills to the American public on what the President predicted would be “great television.”
