Many newspaper editorials, from the FT, to the New York Times, and media, from CNN to the BBC, have described the event that ensued as "bullying", an "ambush", and one of the worst moments in American diplomacy, ever. It has also been called, by some world leaders, and other major commentators, the end of the current world order, as the US president seemed to clearly signal his total disdain for an ally, and utterly defended, to the point of rage, a long-time enemy of the West. There were so many ironies in the fire, it is hard to know where to start calling out the frankly bizarrely-dumb hypocrisies, especially of "attack dog" Vance, who must surely by now be considered the most dubious jerk to have ever won a Pulitzer prize.
Zelensky's English is imperfect, he sometimes dresses in military-style clothing, but he is a remarkably effective, brave, and popular leader, of a Western-allied nation under attack from a larger aggressor, widely believed to be a corrupt state that suppresses democracy, and free speech; Ukrainians have died in the tens of thousands to defend America's supposed interests and values in Europe - the whole free world owes Zelensky a debt of gratitude. During the televised meeting, which he had not set up, he spoke openly and frankly about his ideas, beliefs and experiences, especially pushing back on the idea that Putin can be trusted to stick to his ceasefires (since he has in the past broken them).
Every way in which Vance and Trump bristled, over-reacted, and attacked Zelensky was designed to generate conflict, tension and drama, to try and paint a public record of the man as a tetchy, nasty, foreign upstart - a greedy rude twerp without any respect for the US of A. It was a classic Wild West Black Hat set-up, where a fast-draw gets a slower-draw guy to pull a gun to be eradicated, as in Shane. It's a ploy as old as the hills.
But the complaints against this brave war hero are patently absurd, which makes the burlesque cruelty so nakedly sadistic and insulting:
1. That Zelensky was dressed informally in the Oval office - something which beggars belief, but apparently riled Trump, who seems to forget his friend Musk appears there on TV with a ballcap and dressed casually. Or that Winston Churchill, the ne plus ultra of wartime heroes, war similar para-military get-up in White House meetings with the US president during WW2.
2. That Zelensky was "litigating" to the US media and that this was disrespectful - hard to understand this complaint, since Trump had invited the media in; and Vance claims to support Free Speech. Somehow, an ally explaining their position was suddenly cast as adversarial - of which more in a minute.
3. Zelensky was said not to want Peace - a false point from Trump - Zelensky wants a peace deal backed up by American support, and not a biased ceasefire that allows his enemy to regain their strength, to only attack again in a few months or years. This claim is especially vile because it is a slur implying Zelensky started the war, a talking point Trump has taken from the Kremlin playbook.
4. Zelensky has not been "grateful" or shown "gratitude" to Trump - another sickening lie, wrapped in a perverse exposition of Trumpian megalomania. Firstly, CNN reports Zelensky has publicly thanked the USA 33 times, very effusively. Secondly, since when was America's president a potentate demanding total obeisance and subservience from its vassals? Oh, since about January 20th, 2025.
5. That Zelensky informally referred to VP Vance as "JD" - this is perhaps unfortunate, but only a thin-skinned lunatic would complain his commonly and affectionately referenced initials could be taken by a friendly visitor as a sucker-punch worthy of a dust-up. As an aside, the claim Zelensky wants to start WW3 is the opposite of what he wants - he wants to stop WW3 - it is Russia who has threatened to use nukes in Ukraine, and even in other pats of Europe. The aggressor started it, is a reality that was not permitted to speak yesterday, because for Vance, the truth hurts. He is a quisling toady. Hard to like that.
6. That Zelensky has no cards and should admit that - this is a false Kremlin narrative, ignoring that Ukraine has other allies, especially Canada and Europe, including nuclear powers France and the UK, and strong mid-size power Germany. The fact is Ukraine has fought well and hard, and has managed to stop the aggressor from taking the country it sought to conquer in three days.
7. That Zelensky sends conscripts to the front lines - this Vance claim is a bit hypocritical. The US sent conscripts to Vietnam. Conscription is a legally-accepted act of legitimate democracies. Canada used conscription in WW2. It is not pretty, but it is hardly a deal-braker.
But the main point - the ugly truth - the elephant in the room who was invited to speak in the shape of Trump - is that Zelensky got on their nerves (the Kremlin's friends suggested online the "pig" should have been beaten to near-death - an anti-Semitic trope) with his small frame, un-business-like clothes, and foreign-sounding vowels (there is something of The Brutalist in this) - primarily BECAUSE HE IS THE PRIME ADVERSARY TO RUSSIA at this time - and - for reasons to be mentioned below, Trump and Vance want to suddenly erase Cold War history, and 25 years of Putin's behaviour, and normalise all ties with Russia, a year zero erasing of reality, history and truth that can only be called Orwellian.
Zelensky is a supreme irritant, because he represents a fact on the ground that won't quietly go away - like a victim of a terrible crime - he is speaking out, speaking up, and fighting back. He has been called, by one Trump appointee, a "an annoying ex-girlfriend" because he keeps harping on about "the past" - in this case, the ugly past of mass murder, rape, and pillaging of an innocent nation. And Trump and Vance want him to shut up, and lie down and take it. The MAGA-Trump desire is for all that is "bad" or reputation straining to simply vanish, in relation to their interests.
That is what has shocked and disgusted the Western world in the past day, and changed everything about our current geo-political world reality: The US adversary is now Ukraine - the US wishes to favour, even above its own, the interests of another state, the state of Russia.
There are multiple theories as to why a serving US president could or would - enraged - fight for Russian ideas and mistreat and disrespect an enemy of Russia so openly, while simultaneously dismantling the FBI, and CIA, which serve to hinder Russian actions against the USA, while also seeking to strip down the US government to bare bones and dust.
Occam's razor suggests the obvious one is the truth. Trump is a clear and present danger to America, to the West, to its former allies, and, as has long been suggested, even by credible intelligence dossiers and reports, is an asset serving a foreign power; or, hardly better, is behaving in precisely the same way such a foreign saboteur or agent provocateur would.
And so, in classic Freudian projection, the noble honest hero was treated as a rude traitor, by someone who is a rude traitor, in full view of a world that, today, is in a real mess.
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