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Welcome to The Logoff. At this time I’m specializing in a disastrous assembly between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The hostile dialog had instant penalties for Ukraine’s conflict effort and revealed a lot about how Trump sees the US’s new world function.
What occurred as an alternative? What started as a well mannered assembly devolved right into a de facto ambush after Zelenskyy questioned what would occur if Russia’s Vladimir Putin had been to interrupt a ceasefire. With cameras rolling, Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy within the Oval Workplace, accusing him of ingratitude for US assist. After the assembly, Zelenskyy left the White Home with the minerals deal unsigned, and Trump launched an announcement saying the Ukrainian might “come again when he’s prepared for Peace.”
What now? Trump says he’s nonetheless pursuing a peace deal, however after Friday, Ukraine appears prone to have even much less leverage. Ukraine’s key ask is a safety assure from the US — a request Putin opposes and Trump has resisted. Zelenskyy’s prospects are certainly worse now than when he awoke this morning.
What’s the large image? The assembly was a stunning show of Trump’s posture towards the world — and the unconventional break he represents from the US’s earlier function within the world order. In a matter of some extremely charged minutes, he flouted the delicate US-Ukraine alliance, publicly humiliated a overseas chief, sure himself much more tightly to Putin, and summed all of it up with: “That is gonna be nice tv — I’ll say that.”
And with that, it’s time to sign off …
Watching that Trump-Vance-Zelenskyy video introduced me perilously near an anxiety-driven YouTube scroll session. I used to be rescued by Vox’s At this time, Defined podcast, which has a captivating episode in regards to the Oscars’ overseas movies class. Particularly, it’s a couple of “German” movie that was truly (and secretly) filmed in Iran with Iranian actors and an Iranian director. I hope you get an opportunity to take pleasure in it.
Lastly, due to everybody who signed up for our new Saturday “Good Information” e-newsletter. In case you missed it yesterday, it’s a weekly dose of hope for these troubled occasions. You can join right here. Have a superb weekend, and I’ll see you again right here on Monday.
