ROGER KIMBALL: Zelensky goes to town.
Trump, noting Zelensky’s expressions of “hatred” for Putin, explained that he was in no position to dictate terms. “You don’t have any cards” in this game, Trump pointed out. We want to end the killing. That cannot be done by abusing the other party in the conflict. You cannot successfully negotiate that way. “You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal?’ It doesn’t work that way. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world.”
All this is true. But for some, the pleasure of abusing Vladimir Putin is great enough to risk World War Three. The commentariat was shocked by the spectacle, as was the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, who could see that Zelensky was making a dog’s breakfast of the press conference. “I have never seen anything like it before,” was a common refrain. Zelensky was used to being a moral hero to his interlocutors. But here was a US president who was interested in peace, not preening. J.D.Vance not only pointed out that Zelensky had not only come to Pennsylvania to campaign for Kamala Harris in October, but also cut to the chase with a pointed question: “Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Yikes.
The social-media post Trump issued after the episode was tart and to-the-point. “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today,” Trump wrote:
Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.
Zelensky even lost Lindsey Graham, possibly the most pro-Ukraine senator of either party, with his exhibitionist bit of grandstanding. “Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelensky to be their business partner, including me,” Graham said. “I’ve never been more proud of Trump for showing the American people and the world, you don’t trifle that this man.”
Related: The Approach Trump Had in the Zelensky Meeting Is One Democrats Can’t Wrap Their Head Around.
Trump’s negotiation strategy vastly differs from many other American leaders, especially those on the Democrat side of the aisle. Despite Trump’s reputation as a rough-around-the-edges man whose political charm is far divorced from what people expect after watching The West Wing too much, he is a master negotiator.
Even when it comes to our enemies, Trump is not going to negotiate from a position of bad faith. He sees everything as a businessman would. There are no friends or foes while at the table, just good deals and bad deals.
I thought The Federalist CEO Sean Davis put this very well in a post he made on X:
Trump doesn’t bad mouth anyone who comes to the negotiating table in good faith. Ever. It’s a near-cardinal rule of negotiations for him, and a major reason he’s been such a successful dealmaker.
If you refuse to negotiate, he will trash you. If you lie or negotiate in bad faith, he will trash you. He has zero interest in allowing empty moralizing to get in the way of a deal that he wants.
He has done this his entire career, in business and in politics, and it’s fascinating to me how many people who think of themselves as smart and savvy are incapable of seeing or understanding this dynamic.
The key here isn’t just that Trump is holding the cards and that Zelensky needs him — not the other way around — it’s that Trump is negotiating from a fortified position of “America first.” Everything at the table is subject to that one point, and if anything drifts away from that, then Trump pushes back and pushes back until he’s all the way gone from the table.
Zelensky acted like a petulant child who showed no respect to the country that had given him the money for his war while trying to secure more, and Trump saw no value, not in the war, and not in Zelensky’s disrespect.
The Greta Thunberg-esque “how dare you!!!” shtick just doesn’t play with Trump as it does with worshipful leftists:
Earlier: Our collection of tweets from throughout the day yesterday on Zelensky’s meeting with Trump and Vance, and the Twitter-sphere’s reaction.
