Diplomacy dies on live TV as Trump and Vance gang up to bully Ukraine leader
Summary
Trump just presided over one of the greatest diplomatic disasters in modern history, with flared tempers, raised voices, and shredded protocol.
Never before has a U.S. president bullied and berated an adversary, never mind an ally, in such a public way.
During a tense Oval Office meeting, Trump and JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, demanding he accept a peace deal with Russia or lose U.S. support.
The conversation devolved into shouting, with Trump accusing Zelenskyy of being ungrateful and “gambling with World War III.”
The meeting ended in chaos, with no agreement reached.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/28/trump-zelenskyy-shouting-match-oval-officeOpen linkView original on lemmy.world2098
Comments551
Zelenskyy is a goddamn hero
fuck trump fuck vance fuck musk fuck putin
And his most heroic act was not punching the old fart in the teeth
I imagine it would be quite cathartic
He's far from being a hero. Zelenskyy just happens to be the president of a country being invaded, if trump was in his place you would be here calling him a hero. Zelenskyy is the president of an authoritarian government who turned to martial law and is drafting people by force while not allowing any male between 18-60 to leave the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilization_in_Ukraine#2024
"In 2023, harsher methods of mobilization began to be used, such as road blocks, business raids, and pulling people from the streets. In the latter half of 2023, videos surfaced online showing Ukrainian men violently dragged into vans and driven to the military recruiting centers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANxo0gBM6GM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXhC8WREVKM
Active invasion of their country from Belarus and Russia. What a brain dead take.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilization_in_Russia
Thanks for reporting on the draft in russia too. Forced conscription is form of slavery and a violation of human rights, it should be abolished and every person should fight against it and against the governments forcing it on people.
When two countries drafting people by force and not allowing them to leave the country get into a war you get a total disaster where poor people are forced to murder each others. The rulers and government behind these authoritarian polices are criminal and enemies of humanity.
In this situation, one country got into a war. The other is defending its sovereign territory.
So if russia were to be attacked by china would it be ok for them to draft people by force to defend their sovereign territory? If you were someone living in russia would you be ok with putin goons arresting you if you try to leave the country?
Didn't like, every country do the draft in WW2 and it was barely enough to defeat the Nazis?
Just about every country, yes. A few remained neutral, but there weren’t very many comparatively.
Your intellectual disability helped me with my case study on information integrity! Thank you for not deleting these.
He’s not a hero lol
Most people would have taken the ride offer out of Kiev in 2022. That alone made him a hero. This new incident just adds even more to his hero status
Edit: Not you specifically, just in general.
Yeah, because we learned that if you don't counter trolls some people will believe every goddamn word they say and then vote the trolls into office.
Counter argue with someone, sure. But pushing gruel into the troll never changes the troll, it just makes you more bitter.
You're not trying to change the troll—you're showing the onlookers that the troll is an idiot.
He’s not a hero lol
He is a hero lol
lol if you honestly believe that, that’s ur issue
lol if you honestly don't believe that, that's ur issue
Yeah I’ll believe that sitting in the house I own. Go pay rent
Wait, are you upset your favourite orange sack of shit is the laughing stock of the world, while Zelenskyy is unanimously praised?
Aw.
lol then go move to Ukraine if you wanna suck him so badly dawg
I know that's very natural for you to go around sucking off every man with a raised voice, but I'm not a republican, I don't do that. Thanks for the offer, you do you.
Nazi lives don't matter
Man, you just can't stop thinking about sucking dicks, huh. Lol
Yeah yeah, just go pay rent and shut up
And then to top off his hissy fit, he kicked Zelenskyy out. Like the diaper wearing toddler he is.
Then he cut off all aid to Ukraine for rebuilding their power grid.
Yup, i saw that too. What a fucking petulant child
A petulant child *operating at the behest of a foreign dictator. This whole Stupid Show he's put on around Ukraine has proven he has Putin's dick so far up his ass that it does all the talking for him.
You'll never convince your typical Trump voter that it's true is the main fucking issue though.
I don’t think you have to. Plenty of them see Putin as the “strong leader” they want.
Yes 100% I never questioned that part!
America is an enemy to freedom, democracy, and peace to the world; Americans just haven't felt it yet.
They will soon when the dictatorship turns violent, after all checks and balances are removed.
Transgender Americans and other minority groups are feeling it for sure. It's just not the white suburban traditional family Americans who have felt the pinch yet (aside from the price of eggs).
Yeah, as i canadian I hope the petition is signed to allow trans folk to claim refugee status goes somewhere
As an American, We felt it the first time he was in office. And Bush, and so many other times before. This time is different. It’s unhinged and there’s no end in sight. And the scary part is that a large portion of people here apparently WANTED this. Some of them are silent now, some are attempting to amp it up further and no one I know that voted for this feels any thing is wrong.
There are changes being made on a whim with an axe that will take decades or longer to be rectified and lots that never could be. I’ve never felt as disappointed and ashamed of the country I live in as I do now and I know it will get worse… much worse. Buckle up folks, it’s going to be a bump ride and Disney didn’t write this tale so there’s no happily ever after.
And I’m reminding everyone to GO VOTE!
Most intelligent and decent people are ashamed or embarrassed of the U.S. today.
There are those of us that feel it. We have felt it. We pleaded for people to vote for Harris. We tried to tell people how serious the situation was. It didn't matter.
Krasnov performed exactly as his master, Putin, instructed. The Russians have landed - in the White House.
I checked a few parts for a few minutes. It was too painful to watch.
Troomp and JD couch showed the worst traits leaders could have. The obvious ones are the American superiority complexes and the toxic need to escalate and talk down upon others.
In all of the bits I saw when skipping trough it, Zelenksy deescalated the situation multiple times while Trump and especially Vance escalated and started talking like some pretentious teenager bullies that gotten themselves a country.
Fuck the USA.
The only thing missing was Trump shouting "hold me back bro!" and pretending Vance was holding him back.
As an American, fuck the USA.
As a Canadian, fuck the US eh
One of my issues with the video is that Trump is "aligned" with everyone and keeps saying that Ukraine has to make concessions while he never says Russia will. In the last press meeting he even hinted that it will be difficult to have Putin give back occupied territories. I forget the exact words, but it was after the Elon part.
As usual, Trump is projecting. Someone is "gambling with WWIII," but it sure ain't Zelenskyy.
+100
Anyone who thought this would work out differently was simply not paying attention or was being willfully ignorant.
US provided a deal Zelinsky simply could not sign and they knew it. Chump set Zelinsky up for this shit show cause, in his world, Chump either gets the deal he wants or he gets to act/look tough.
And how masculine/tough to have Couchie there backing him up cause Chump isn't brave enough to do it all on his own.
And, of course, all concludes with disastrous results all around.
🤦♀️ 🖕 🖕 🤡
Trump’s Hot Take: If someone breaks into your home, begins stealing stuff and murdering your family, just stand by. You don’t want to cause a stir.
Trump's Hot Take: Give me half your stuff and I'll help you stop that other thief/murderer.
It's a great deal because he's gonna take everything.
He's specifically saying he won't help them stop Russia he's saying he'll help a cease fire which Russia always breaks, legit I don't know of a single cease fire Russia has ever honored.
Even with Sweden they'd lose make peace then try again
Yeah and when you go to take that deal, he and his little brother berate you, blame you for being the victim, and tell you the deal's off.
US gets to be the Nazis this time.
Are we taking turns or...?
On my turn I vote we just do a lot of speed and forget about all the rest of it. Maybe we'll do some amateur rocketry too
Trump wants zelenaky to take peace at any cost.... Zelenaky won't take that offer and wants assurances. Trump insults him as a war monger who wants ww3??
God what an example of political double speak. Trump is a lying idiot and he's the one gambling with ww3
Could it be the deranged wanna-be dictator/mobster, and associates, who want to seize Canada, Greenland and Panama?
Honestly fuck it we know appeasment doesn't work, I'd rather have WW3 now when Ruzzia is still just a middle power with a ton of second hand equipment than let them take half of eastern europe and build up some serious strength before finally having WW3 anyway.
Any government who spend billions on wars is gambling with WWIII
His honest self
which is just the worst.
There is no other self. This is what he is.
His only self, even.
CIA used to kill presidents for less. Sometimes American ones too.
AFAIK, it's not clear if the CIA ever killed a president.
They surely gave guns and taught other people how to do it. But I don't think they ever did it themselves.
They generally just overthrew the government and called it a day.
Brings up memories of the South Park episode of the CIA or FBI where the boys found out the organization was trying to project themselves to be more powerful than they actually are, and intentionally wanting people to believe scary rumors about them.
My take on it is if that's what we can find out about these clandestine orgs then the truth is almost certainly at least slightly more incriminating. I dont trust them to tell or record the truth when they can't even pass an audit.
They really need to step in here, before Putin moves into the white house permanently
The CIA is in the business of installing despots, not removing them.
I feel like no one who could have a sway (aside from the mass who is not organized and still devided at the moment) would benefit from trump not being in power. That's a lot of negatives, let me rephrase: I feel that no one with the power to influence—aside from the masses, who, if organized, could have significant sway—has much incentive to act, as they benefit from Trump being in power.
Why would any nation that does not have nukes not start making nukes right now?
The USA has shown over and over, it's the only thing we take seriously. We don't give a fuck until you have nukes. We don't care about treaties, alliances, deals. We only care if you can start the nuke wars. Anything else is just "how can we take advantage of you?"
Also .. World, I understand you're not reading this, but for the three of ya that do, boycott us. Tariff the shit out of us. You got this, and thanks for all the fish.
Unfortunately Ukraine was part of the Budapest Memorandum. With this they gave up their nuclear armament in an agreement that "prohibited Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France from threatening or using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, "except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."
So they gave up their nukes with the agreement that they would be safe from these 4 groups. However that didn't do shit for them, thus a huge reason why any SeasFire(Ceasefire, my bad) would have to have some big security backing. As Russia has ignored all prior agreements.
Exactly why the lesson any other non-nuclear armed country should learn is to get the nukes
I mean at this point all that'd be left is the IAEA, and the US's nuclear inspectors are probably all fired by now so yeah sure what's stopping them?
What is SeasFire?
A ceasefire?
Oof. That's a hell of a case of "bone-apple tea" if I've ever heard one. It undermines the credibility of the whole comment.
What you say feels right, and it is breaking my heart
Prof. John Mearshmeyer have been talking about great power's expansionism and it's relation to nuclear armament since at least 2015.
Yup. And when Russia invaded Ukraine, everyone called him a Russian puppet because of course America would never!
It's too hard. Yeah, we understand the required specs, but the precision machines and rare ores are internationally monitored. Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears was eye opening as to what the terrorists had to go through to make a single bomb. And it fizzled into a "normal" atom bomb.
And I'm not even talking about the experts involved, a physics degree ain't gonna get it. The precision machining for the tooling alone is mind blowing, then you gotta fab the actual parts. Again, you're not getting people like that in a room with a LinkedIn ad, and it would be noticed, very noticed, if you tried.
Now if you want to skip 3-stage hydrogen bombs and just roll an atom bomb, still tough, but much more doable.
tl;dr: The nuclear powers would come down on you like a ton of bricks if a country even tried starting a program. See: Iran.
See Pakistan.
Shit can work out. Russia has plenty of peeps looking for seedy revenue streams
I really need to check out Sum of All Fears again.
That truly is mind blowing to think about, the level of expertise you mentioned and the tooling. Imagine, just think about it, if it were put to use for something other than the potential to obliterate millions in an instant...
Makes a man shed a tear, a bit.
I don't know exactly how to put this, but I feel personally embarrassed by this.
I think this is going to shift world order more than expected. Every country now must be nuclear. Trump is going to try to install himself as a dictator. I think violence will have to be the answer. Man it's depressing.
I'm pissed. There was always a simple answer. Freeze the front line and make it clear to Putin that Ukraine is now their version of Taiwan. They could keep trying to attack but the Ukrainians are now backed by the full might of the American military. They can keep what they already have but anything else is a step too far.
Yeah it's possible Zelensky doesn't go for that deal but damn, they didn't even try for the simplest option that stops the fighting, gets the payments Trump so desperately wants and guarantees Ukraine's security. They literally just presented an extortion scheme as the only option, with "trust me bro" as the guarantee.
i bet their plan is to go into places already ravaged by the war, look for valuable mining opportunities, if not, trump branded fuckin cesspools. they don't even care if there ARE valuable mining deposits.
Oh Trump isn't looking for anything. He just wants Ukraine to ship us rare earths instead of adding the decades old refinery tech back into the US minerals sector.
That's the best part of this whole thing by the way. We do have plenty of rare earths accessible in the US. We even have all the raw material mines we would require. They're just being lazy.
yeah but trump has his little nose in the ground. if he secures rights to mining in Ukraine, he can farm that out as deals and favors. trump is transactional.
yeah, rare earths are a misnomer - they are not rare, they are not highly concentrated in one spot. if the price goes up, exploiting other deposits becomes worthwhile. damn, there is a deposit in Kärnten / Austria that is just not yet profitable to develop; thats an area where mining goes back centuries.
And if, let's say he did go for it, they'd sell him out anyway. We freaking know it.
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/to-president-zelenskyy-from-embarrassed-americans
Here's an apology letter you can sign if you want
Shame the cloudflare VPN wall doesnt let me sign it. It just loops a captcha at me that insta-fails.
Unless you want a nuclear war NO country needs to be nuclear
Real Art of The Deal shit.
Absolute fucking masterclass in statesman-like diplomacy.
Genuinely a moment for all Americans to be proud of. Truly, exceptional.
Coming from YouTube, all the comments were saying Trump put Zelenksy in his place.. are people actually that stupid, or is the whole internet edgy rightwing bots?
Yes
Your comment had me go to YouTube to check, and almost all the top 30 comments were pro Zelensky.
I wonder if YouTube shows you different 'top' comments based on their profile on you
Possible, they don't seem to be sorted by either time, replies or likes.
YouTube has some sort of sorting algorithm, but I have no idea what it sorts by. I've had a video open, looked at some of the comments, then come back the next day, refreshed the page, and had a new set of comments at the top from the same time period, with no discernible pattern to why they're positioned where they are. You might find the top comment you saw previously with 1.5k likes 10 comments down the next day and a comment with 200-400 likes at the top, followed by a comment with 7k likes you didn't see previously, and all from 5 months ago when the video was first posted.
I guess I could look for a different channel to watch. However, stepping outside the echo chamber is probably not a bad idea once in a while.
Wow! Because YT commenters tend to be a particular kind of stupid.
A good chunk of the comments will be straight up Russian propaganda. Another good chunk will be Americans who have bought into that propaganda wholeheartedly.
It's an embarrassing time to be an American.
Trump got elected twice, so I fear it might just be people.
I showed a clip of the meeting to someone I know and that is pretty much what they said.
We are so fucked.
The comment section of the video I watched said otherwise. Was the one you watched on the Fox channel by any chance? They be like that.
It was a left leaning UK channel, weirdly enough
Huh, yeah that's surprising. I guess people are dicks all over the world.
What channel?
Think it was this video:
https://youtu.be/p5vBvlBGmo
Looks like the comments are slightly more sane now than they were when I first saw it, which is good.
Don't forget the ungodly amount of bots out there.
I can't wait for Trump to die
god maga folk are the most unamerican beyond belief. The whole greatest generation is rolling over in their graves.
They voted in a Russian agent as the president. They are beyond evil. They are traitors.
Finally a f**king actual headline. That was a disaster and a disgrace for all Americans. I can’t take these meek be “explosive White House meeting, where maybe Trump was possibly speaking angrily, but please Mr. Trump don’t sue us, if you disagree!”
Word
I just can't understand why Vance would interpret Zelenskyy as being disrespectful for politely, calmly, and carefully articulating his point of view on how diplomacy has failed him and his country. Vance seems like the type of person I would basically laugh at and walk away from if I were in a situation to have to hear him be "alpha and in-charge".
It was like watching a scene from an episode of a reality TV show from the early 2000s.
Because they went in wanting to find a way to make Zelenskyy seem unreasonable. They have no intention of helping Ukraine at all and now it's going to be because he didn't immediately kiss Trumps feet.
I just wonder what type of people saw that and thought Zelenskyy was the unreasonable one? It's rhetorical, I know what type of people think that... sadly.
That's not a coincidence.
I mean, the "president" is the guy from The Apprentice. 🤮
He didn't, he was just saying that it was disrespectful cause he wanted to show what a good little bitch he is.
Love how the guy who said "I'll make up whatever stories I need to" told Zelenskyy, after being asked if he's seen what Ukraine is going through: "Oh I haven't personally been there but I've seen stories."
Stories from where, vice couch-humper? RT News?
It actually sounded like he was about to say he had actually been there, then realized he was about to lie about that to a guy who would immediately recognize and likely call him out for lying, so he then course corrected with a seriously lame response.
There can be absolutely zero doubt that Trump is a Russian stooge
Watching that made my stomach hurt. I'm so embarrassed. Not that I wasn't before, but Jesus Christ. Every time he opens his mouth, every time I see a new article about the horrendous shit he's doing, that rage from the election results comes back again. I feel like I have to watch it all, but this is so fucking painful.
Trump's unreasonable nature is so obvious in the full video that I don't see how anyone with two braincells can be on his side. Some highlights I want to share:
Reporter asks at 37:39 "… and who would protect those minerals … ?" Trump: "They'll be protected. The agreement will protect them. The agreement, yeah we're signing an agreement." Reporter: "Right but what if Russia tries to invade or there's russian agression in those spots." Trump: "I just don't think that's going to happen." He then deflects by trying to discredit the reporter since he couldn't answer the question. So instead of giving Ukraine any guarantees or acknowledging Russia's previous deceit, he hand waves it away.
At 33:45 "… what did [Putin] tell you that he wanted peace?". Trump: "My whole life is deals … I've known him for a long time, he had to suffer through the Russia hoax, you know Russia Russia Russia it was a hoax. It was all Biden it was nothing to do with him … I think that he wants to make a deal and he would like to see it end." What an absolute nothing answer. He's asked why he believes this is viable and after a short attempt at making Russia the victim he just says, rephrased, "because, lol".
At 39:50 Vance goes on a truly incoherent ramble about how Biden tried "thumping [his] chest and pretending that the president of the United States words mattered more than the President of the United States's actions" and thus "the path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe in engaging in diplomacy". Ah, diplomacy, the path that is famously known for it's lack of words... sending money to Ukraine or providing military aid? Those aren't actions, they're just words. Zelensky goes on to ELI5 to Vance how Putin broke diplomacy before the clips everyone is posting begins.
And just for fun, at 30:15 Trump delivers a line so stupid it almost breaks Zelensky's poker face: "I've stopped wars, I've stopped many wars. My people will tell you, I've stopped wars that nobody ever heard about. I stopped wars before they ever started. … I could give you a lot of nations that would tell you right now they were probably going to war — I could tell you right now there is a nation thinking about going to war on something that nobody in this room has ever even heard about."
This is ignoring all the times they try and blame Biden for Russia invading Ukraine which just ???
"Peace deal" means surrender now, don't join NATO, and get invaded again in a few years.
TBH idk how Zelenskyy thought things would go any differently.
I doubt he thought it would go differently. But he did an amazing job showing the world how utterly depraved Trump and Vance are. There can be no question now that they are Putin stooges. The United States lost the cold war, Putin won without firing a single bullet. It is out in the open.
He probably fired quite a few bullets, but I get you.
The US won the cold war actually.
It's just that they now somehow manage to loose after having already won.
So word is that the more the US mistreats Z, the more the European people like him, and want to support him. So this was probably a great outcome fir them. The deal offered was very one sided. Had Z just not taken it, people would blame him. But now, everyone knows who to blame.
I understand you mean Zelenskyy, but you are using Russian dog whistles, by referring to him as Z. Z = the Russian version of calling people Nazis because they opposed Putin.
Tagged, and watching to see who you are. Especially with that extremely sus UN.
This is the first time I hear that, do you have any source?
All I know about "Z" and Russia is they used it to mark some of their divisions early in the war, and it later became a rallying sign for them, for supporting that same war and Putin. So quite the favorable thing for them, even if it's used only in war propaganda.
I don't think there are sources as this is more of a slang, but saying "someone is Z" has been synonymous of saying someone is Russia aligned.
I never seen it used in the context that the OP is describing
Example: https://youtu.be/zVH2UUR09HQ
I’m glad we get to see this shameful display. I wouldn’t talk to a dog like that, much less the democratically elected leader of another sovereign nation that’s an ally. The US used to be a beacon of freedom and diplomacy, but clearly we shouldn’t expect that from the current regime.
Europe will keep supporting Ukraine regardless, but it really is in the US’ interests to stay involved in this conflict. It’s disconcerting that Trump can’t seem to grasp that basic fact.
No he is showing us exactly who we know him to be a piece of human shit.
Hey man, I dropped a log this morning that was 12" long and 1.5 inches thick.
That motherfucker was a majestic bastard.
I wouldn't even put Trump in the same league as the skidmark that was left behind by this veritable ring-buster.
"Democracy dies on live TV" - wow that headline hits hard.
This really is the end of the US era. Nobody will count on them for things like this from now on. War was the one thing the US was good at, now they have nothing of value left for the rest of the world.
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.
US is good at pumping infinite money into the military. But they definitely aren't "good" at war.
They were good at creating and maintaining wars. Just not good at winning or ending them.
I think "tried to bully Zelensky" would have been a little more accurate. Of course Trump and Vance failed at that too. All they're good at is manipulating the most stupid people on the planet. If I was morally depraved, I bet I could do it pretty easily too.
I know the main thing here is Vance and Trump backstabbing and bullying Zelenskyy, but I just want to point out that Trump repeatedly talked about "raw earth" instead of "rare earths". We're truly fucked.
Trump is America's Boris Johnson turned up 100. The act of stupidity is intentionally, to provide a thin veneer of plausible deniability in case the rule of law comes back swinging it's prejudice cock to only smack either Vance in the face as he Pardons Trump and Musk.
If Trump's stupidity is an act then boy is he committed to the bit - because he's been dumb as a bag of rocks since grade school, through high school, college, and in every encounter with people close to him. Doesn't even turn it off for the wives or friends behind closed doors. Truly the greatest method actor of our times.
I disagree. Trump is neurodiverse and has dementia. He’s also an absolute monster of a human being, one of the worst that ever rose to power. So don’t think I’m making excuses for him here, but the guy legit has brainrot.
BoJo is a smart man hiding behind his bumbling facade. It’s very obvious when you hear him talk for example in a court of law instead of in front of a camera. With Trump you don’t have that distinction. He is always the same.
To sum up:
Both are rich and well-connected by virtue of being nepo babies, but:
Pretty much yeah.
I'm ready to protest this shit. Tell me when and where to show up, my local big city or state capital. This is some bullshit. Trump and Vance are egotistical dickheads. Ukraine are our allies! Imagine George Washington doing this with Marquis de Lafayette, or FDR with Churchill!! Unspeakable!
Ukraine is a US ally. Trump is a Russian ally. Of course he would attack his adversary.
Bro have you been in a coma? The US is now taking the side of Russia, North Korea, Iran and China. Our alliances with the free west are dead.
That's kinda what they said.
I thought they were making that typical American denialist point that "actually the US is still friends with Ukraine, it’s just trump that’s the problem".
That's a bit exaggerated.
Alliances with Middle-Eastern monarchies, Israel and such - are apparently becoming even stronger.
Alliances with European countries and the Commonwealth - yes, but doesn't seem enough of a breakup to deprive both sides of the common R&D and weapons trade and logistics system.
North Korea is its own thing, Stalinism is not good, but it's not an aggressive nation even against South Korea. It's just their elite's way of survival to threaten everyone around and to make themselves necessary to their neighbors, which are China, Russia and, well, South Korea.
Iran is strained the opposition it has in its conflicts, so it tries to deal with Russia and India and everyone, China included.
Russia is a gang of thieves scaled to a nation with nuclear weapons. Such an elite can't stand a democratic nation with similar official language and half the population talking Russian, with decent level of life, nearby. They'd lose peace, so they chose war. And frankly I think that this was predicted by those supporting Ukraine. The idea was that Russia will kill itself against Ukraine, or take the L not accepting the price needed, and it turned out that Russia's elite will rather pay that price.
So, I didn't mention China itself. China is the nation everyone listed, including US, is heavily reliant upon economically. And war in Ukraine made Russia even more reliant on China, and destabilization in the Middle-East made Iran even more reliant on China, basically bad things make everyone even more reliant on China.
And China is an adversary. So what Trump&Vance&co are doing is to accept all kinds of scum into their allies' ranks, except China. Allowing that scum to do as it pleases.
So - it's "not allowing the better to be the enemy of the good" and at the same time cozying up to all kinds of gangsters, double win.
I wish your next election is an election.
I think you’re underestimating how much hatred and disdain this administration is stewing in Europe. This is not something that can be fixed if a "normal" person comes into office in four years. IF there’s even going to be an open election then.
What’s happening right now has already done generational damage to transatlantic diplomacy. And we’re barely a month in.
Maybe it has, I don't know, but actual ties, money and technologies and cooperation, seem to go on.
Also "in Europe" has very dubious politicians, like UvdL, as well. I don't think Trump can be worse than that bitch. As a person, of course, as a politician he has more power.
Just show up, invite others, everyone is waiting for someone else to do something (present company included).
The stupid part is that Trump / Vance made themselves look like assholes. Zelensky was over to sign a deal and they threw him out for disagreeing with their dumb talking points. And far from making America "great", I expect that Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea etc has collectively decided that they need to reduce their dependence on America while these malignant narcissists are in charge.
Most pathetic behavior from nation leaders i have ever seen, how Trump and Vance even talk is unbearable, its like watching the Boys in actual real life unbelievable. It would be funny if the world wasnt at stake
His tone is quite different with Kim Jong Un and Putin.
Holy shit, Trump stopped the war on Day 1, just like he promised. What a genius of diplomacy. The artist of the deal. So american 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I'm just sad that Zelensky needs to keep good relations with the US so that he can still get something from them, because I'm sure that otherwise he would have completely destroyed their arguments there.
If the Europe had any sense of self respect the US embassies would be closing everywhere right now just like the russian ones.
Good job America! Proud of y’all for once again standing up for your values of oppression and greed.
It's been a while since I've gone through a whole day being proud of my US citizenship. Today was one of the most shameful.
Honestly. I've never been more ashamed. I wish I could help end this shit, ya know?
Organize against Trump. Donate to the Ukrainian military. Take the streets.
"Ohhh I’m so ashamed, but whatever can we do??" I’m sick of hearing it.
Not everyone can do those things. I'm poor and if I take to the streets, I can lose my job.
Same. What an awful day to be a sane American.
This is disgraceful and would've never happen in the old days. On the other hand, I even appreciate the public show of arguing before plainly betraying an ally. Like what we did with Gaddafi or Hussein. That was some cold -blooded bully shit.
How he was able to raise his voice with Putins needle dick pushed up against his tonsils is quite impressive.
Unlike
KrasnovTrump, who is responsibly destroying the US Government and undermining the USA's alliances and foreign influence while doing everything he can to hand Ukraine and Europe to Russia. That's just responsible statesmanship.The restraint on Zelenskyy to not call him Krasnov to his face.
You mean the only adult in the room?
Hey, don't disrespect the cameramen!
I mean there was the one reporter who asked what if Putin doesn’t stick to any deal they agree to. Of course that was probably state media trolling!
Remind me what Trump's Russian asset code name is?
Ah yes, President Krasnov.
King Krasnov
FTFY
He reminds me of the president of Belarus too. That’s not good for the future of America.
This is what happens when Trump doesn't get his way and he throws his toys out of the pram.
That was painful to watch. Trump and Vence were pathetic and the end rambling about Biden, laptop, wtf was that? If Kamala did then same they would have taken her by force to a mental institution.
Trump is such a piece of shit, zelensky showed so much restraint. I think I would have slapped that traitor into the next dimension
Yeah, accuse someone who just wants his country to survive a constant and ongoing aggression of "gambling with World War III", and kiss the ass of the aggressor despot who constantly threatens to nuke the world if someone looks at him wrong.
What an abhorrent example of humanity they both are and what an embarrassment to the world this is.
I'm assuming you mean Trump and Vance.
Ha! Given the insanity of this interview, I didn't think I needed to clarify.
You shouldn't, but check out this Politico article started with:
It's amazing how we see a petulant man-child throwing a fit and they see "a brutal smackdown". The propaganda is evident.
Another right wing propaganda:
These people are absolutely fucking insane.
If you look on ground news you can see all the different ways this was covered by news media. They're all pretty fucked up to be honest, but surprisingly, there is some right-wing media covering it in a more sane way.
(This is not a paid ad I just like ground news)
As much as this makes me hate Donald Trump more than I already did, which was already more than I hate almost anyone, the really horrific thing is that a decent fraction of Americans will look at this and think Trump made the right decision, or at least a brave, or reasonable, decision.
Heck, the only man in that room was Zelenskyy.
Hahaha saw this elsewhere too. Great point! Kudos to any support staff who kept their composure during this total shitshow.
True, but I don't think it matters any more what they think. They are a cult, and we cannot salvage this situation by swaying them. We have to act accordingly. They just need to be mowed down if they get in the way.
I‘m trying to think of ways other than a civil war to salvage this situation but I’m coming up blank. Maybe someone more optimistic than me can chime in.
There is no reason to brainstorm optimistic outcomes. We can see what they are doing. It's an authoritarian takeover, they are allies with Russia, and they are parroting all of the same things about Canada, that Putin was saying about Ukraine. Like there is no reason not to believe them. They are telling us exactly what the plan is. There has to be a civil war, or we are fucked. Canada should be helping the real Americans win their civil war. It's in our interest to go down there and burn down the white house again.
I agree and it probably truly is the only option going forward. Let’s hope the left is sufficiently armed or you guys will live in a real life enactment of Handmaids Tale soon.
This, but a lot sooner, and more successful, could put an end to it and save countless lives.
Maybe. I’m not sure. The Republican Party as a whole has turned fascist, it’s not just Trump and Vance.
Let them perish from their own eugenics program!
Well, don't be a bitch about it, pull a Fort Sumter or shut it lmfao
I'm European. We have other wars to deal with right now, but I suggest you sort your shit out rather sooner than later.
I see, opinion discarded!
Insta edit: only cowards need a /s
Perfect response, enjoy your fall of Rome era.
I do enjoy the fiddle!
Perfect yourself, enjoy your "Satellite State of Rome during the Fall of Rome Era" era DX
Wrote up a summary months ago (with reputable sources!) about this stuff, and was permabanned from Lemmy news and politics for it.
Idk man, you can tell people stuff, but it’s so hard for them to access what’s real right now. There’s a concerted online effort to suppress factual info.
https://lemmy.world/comment/13431373
Good, that is the point, I want people to be safe, stay alive, have food to eat and homes to live in. Take care!
The trouble is that this was probably intentional, you can see the vp is literally an attack dog in this case, but I still think it's likely that if zelensky stroked trumps ego it wouldn't have ended that way. It's like trump is pro Russia but also narcissistic and they are sometimes at odds.
That sucks and permabans really shouldn't be a thing except in extreme causes of threatening to like harm/dox some one and stuff like that. Not seeing where you did anything to get banned at all, but especially not permabanned.
If Lemmy just ends up being another reddit that's going to suck so bad.
We need a government social media that allows us to sue mods for freedom of speech violations, and allows us to host and have a centralized area for town halls and city concerns, eg like local FB or Reddit groups.
Until then, whatever, I won't shut up and they will have to keep banning me. I'm only on these "big" socials to let people know this stuff, otherwise I stick to niche independent forums that focus on 1 special interest. The difference between posters there, who are real and human and there to discuss the interest instead of psyop, and the posters on big socials, is night and day. The little indie forums don't really need to ban people because they aren't the focus of psyops, and so you get to see a wide variety of opinions and less of an echo chamber. Idk, I miss the old internet
yeah the best subs on reddit are almost always at least semi-niche with mods who are serious about the topic but not a-holes. I haven't had many issues with many mods but I still avoid most of the main subs simply because the discussion there is often very weak.
Do you have any recommendations on how to find indie forums? I don't know if there are lists or whatnot out there.
Oh, these are independent websites. Not sections of Reddit.
Here's an example, the Ray Peat Forum (renamed Low Toxin Forum), I'm not a member/believer of those ideas, but I trawl through their studies sometimes for research with other stuff (better than r/science sometimes), and I love their fights so much: https://lowtoxinforum.com/threads/this-guy-says-he-has-found-the-holy-grail-on-how-to-remove-excess-copper-iron.53550/
To find this forum, I believe I typed in something on a search about fat soluble vitamins and forums (or discussion board) and it came up. I take time to sift through results (go a few pages deep to find the lower SEO results) and see if the forums I find mention sister forums. I then will search stuff like, "Is Low Toxin Forum reliable?" and see who is talking about the forum and what they have to say.
This doesn't work super well though for politics, stocks, news, or crypto, I've found - those forums tend to be scammy for some reason. But ironically I've been on several gambling forums and those aren't nearly as sketchy.
Ah yeah I was actually talking about non reddit places. I do remember the pre reddit days when those forums were common. Maybe it's rose colored glasses but I do remember the convos being a bit deeper.
Well, hopefully Lemmy or someone figures out how to do reddit better than reddit tbh.
Does that link lead to a "Server error" for anyone else?
Eat shit, Pumpkin Tits.
You too, couch fucker.
I don't know what it can be, but every ounce of me hates both of these men. I don't even want to call them men. I can't think of a possible way that they could suffer and feel the emotion of helplessness and sorrow. Whatever would happen, I don't think they'd care. They literally wouldn't care - because they have the mindset that they are invincible and can have whatever they want.
He's not the boss even in his home
It would be wildly illegal for me to say what I think of, and wish for, both Trump and Vance, but I'm still gonna quietly pray to whoever is listening that it happens.
Congrats Never Genocide people posing as Progressives. We fucking warned you that exactly this was going to happen. Trump and his cult would side with Russia and throw Ukraine under the bus.
Great fucking job.
And great fucking job, Mods, for protecting those fucks in the name of civility.
We are the baddies now. And we got here because you'd rather protect Nazis from being punched in the mouth for their words and actions in the name of civility.
"But I am the king!!!!"
I love how he thought he was pulling a power move and then EVERYONE is like “don’s a bitch-ass pussy”. Fucking outstanding.
His supporters still think he's a superhero. They are morons.
I’m sure he got an email from Daddy telling him what a big strong man he was today. That’s all that matters.
remember you guys. peace day 1! trump never lies
I just saw an ad for G20, a fiction where some terrorists kidnap all the leaders of the G20 at the meeting. But don't worry, the US president frees herself, and she's going full Liam Neeson to free everyone and get revenge.
LOL completely unbelievable
What would instead happen with the US president that is in charge now: if you free me I will help you with all your requests and I will personally execute the hostages
totally not a russian dog
What get me is not only how Trump is destroying our country but how they defend him. He can do no wrong. Wow. I’m American and I stand firm with Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine!
What a shit show...
This is the weakness of modern democracies... You, as Putin, can just wait for 4 years and there will maybe be an idiot in power, who.ruins everything done before.
They love Trump, because their oligarchs and their puppets have regularly praised him on Russian state TV since 2016. So no, no confusion. They know Trump works for them.
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-tv-praises-trump-putin-1740156
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-state-tv-trump-putin-hegseth-2030562
https://www.npr.org/2016/09/09/493289326/donald-trumps-long-embrace-of-vladimir-putin
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/russian-state-tv-says-its-no-coincidence-trump-is-echoing-putins-talking-points/ar-AA1zCNnZ
This is genuinely one of the stupidest things I've seen. We all are used the the bar getting lower and lower but lordy it just accelerated.
Cringe.
Well, we're going to have to make friends with Iran to make our membership in the Axis of Evil official.
Here's the full video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdOPrHI4BYg
What horrifying asses Trump and JD are.
Right? You can see how full of themselves they are. And how JD Vance is just a Trump enabler and ass kisser. Fucking sycophant.
The way Trump acts and the way he talks, how he's so condescending to a man who's fighting for the lives and freedom of his country. Then goes off to talk about the previous leader as being stupid and not smart. Disgusting. Absolutely vile.
Meanwhile Zelenskyy is trying to call them out on their lies and their bullshit and they get in his face. Outrageous.
I don't know how Zelenskyy was able to keep calm and not rip Donald's head off, honestly.
Has a VP ever sat with the president while meeting with a foreign president like this? Maybe Biden in Obama's first term? Cheney and Bush the 2nd behind closed doors but never in front of the cameras
I really wish Zelenskyy had said something to Trump like "Why are you letting him speak for you? Are you not the one in charge?"
Anything Zelenskyy did would have been an excuse. There was no winning this exchange, short of Putin dying in the middle of it.
That was harder to watch than Isis beheadings
What an embarrassing way to behave. 🤦♂️
It's kinda sad to see your big brother go down like this. We fought together for the last 100 years, and now he's a shivering meth head.
Don't worry, we'll deal with Putin, and then we can deal with your problems before China tries to pull a fast one.
Trump showed what a jackass he was.
They can't even look him in the eye. They know he's telling the truth and they're full of shit.
(something something invasions of North America, invasion of Mexico, Occupation of the Philippines, ... )
(Should be obv, but this excludes Zelenskyy)
Edit: wtf why is it so hard to insert gifs
That was crazy
Fuck these fuckheads.
That thumbnail reminded me of this
Finally a fucking accurate headline. All of this "argument between zelensky and trump" horseshit was so immediate and widespread. Trump couldn't even handle his own unjustified attack. They needed vance to to start with verbal diarrhea and buzz words so dementia donny dipshit had things to free associate with. They ganged up and bullied to try to force him to break, and he held.
I'm already seeing the memes about Trump and Vance dominating zelenski or flat out turning this event into a joke rather than keeping it as the shit show it is. They move fast
For people curious, here's a complete video. I skimmed through it and it looks like it starts to really devolve a bit after 40 minutes.
"Diplomacy dies"
What diplomacy has there been for the past 3 years of war?
Any links to the moment or moments? Or did they bury this already? I was busy when it happened and then several of my engineering and science friends came into my lab and they were all talking about it.
It's all on YouTube, pick your poison as far as channels go. Best bit is at the end where Trump says at the end "this will make great TV."
Oh man I watched it. It was terrible! Like on a personal level Trump is such an asshole! Otherwise it would be hilarious and once done you could flush Trump down the toilet. Unfortunately there he is, an asshole at the whitehouse. Just spewing shit.
I'm gonna say it out loud: you are all getting fooled like a bunch of idiots by trump and US government.
USA government wants more war. Here you are praising war and that diplomacy has failed, you are playing government game.
“On live TV”
I understand now why tankies were so obsessed with not voting for Genocide Joe.
People should have the right to vote outside the two party system without a spoiler effect. Its a inalienable right actually.
There are more representative electoral systems that can accomplish this. Are you working to pass electoral reform in your state so those that are unrepresented by First-past-the-post voting can participate in democracy?
"Why are women so obsessed with suffrage" - you, if you lived during the early 20th century
::: spoiler Videos on Electoral Reform
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems we can try out.
STAR voting
Alternative vote
Ranked Choice voting
Range Voting
Single Transferable Vote
Mixed Member Proportional representation :::
I dunno how you can draw a false equivalence between women fighting for their right to vote, and refusing to vote against an avowed fascist (who then won office), and keep a straight face.
By living in Russia, probably.
I agree with everything you're saying here. So tell me, how does this have any bearing on the outcome of an election with FPTP voting?
Yes, you are very smart. Congratulations on having the most convoluted, psychopathic president in the world. You've clearly taught that genocide Joe a lesson.
I'm not on the side of anyone doing genocide, that includes trump, biden, and harris. If you want me on your side, get a candidate who doesn't support genocide, really shouldn't be that hard
Too bad that in the US there’s three sides, two that support genocide and a third one which supports whoever gets the most votes out of the other two.
You literally can’t avoid “supporting genocide” in a FPTP system, refusing to choose just means letting others choose for you. And you can’t tell me in good faith that both outcomes were the same.
By existing in America I can't avoid supporting genocide?
Then this is an evil country that cannot be saved
It can be saved, through voting in primaries, grassroot movements, and trying to pressure whoever is in power to do the right thing.
But all of this is only possible if you keep voting for the lesser evil. By electing people like Trump, the US population is sending the message that they like those positions, and therefore the other party will keep shifting more and more to the right to try and capture those voters. And the only way a nation can be saved under those conditions is violent revolution. Are you ready for violent revolution? Because if you’re not I’d suggest you either start a plan to migrate to a better country, or get accustomed to voting “against” people, instead of “for” people.
If supporting genocide is a prerequisite of participating in this system I'll just not participate. I'm only one person and I need to be able to live with myself at the end of the day. Maybe you have a stronger will than I do, but for me supporting genocide is a line I just can't cross.
You’re still supporting genocide by proxy by living in the US and paying taxes, contributing to the GDP and whatnot, though. You should move and contribute to a different country if you really can’t stand to support genocide in any form.
I can't afford to move to a different country
It is not our place to fund their war and their country any longer. Americans need help and those hundreds of billions could be helping our people. If Ukraine wants to continue fighting then do it without US support.
Those billions went to military industrial companies, directly funding manufacturing jobs in the USA.
Yes we supplied the weapons but we also have been funding their government. Ukraine functions because we and the Europeans pay for it.
Yes it is because keeping Ukraine out of Putin's hands is essential to Western prosperity. Do you understand Ukraine's role in global wheat production? Do you understand the value of naval ports in the Black Sea? Do you understand the danger of having a Russian border even further in Europe and NATO? Plus, do you think you're going to see any of the savings? The maybe 1.5% of the federal budget that went to Ukraine...so if you miraculously got those $20 of your federal income tax back, they are gonna turn your life around?
we had the same "we could use that money for our people!" with Brexit. Guess what? spoiler; the money doesn't go to "the people".
Your funds are being used so that Ukrainian soldiers can risk their lives defending your border with your biggest enemy.
Zelenskyj had every right to question Vance the way he did, but it wasn't the right time to do so if he wanted their respect.
It was disrespectful. It hurts me to concede this point. I didn't want it to be true but I had to see the cause for the fight breaking out, and I hate to admit that it was Zelenskyj who put Vance on the spot in front of everyone like he was on trial, and put him to shame. That's not something you want to do when you're trying to make a deal for your people.
Zelenskyj has too much of a backbone, unfortunately. Respect to him, for standing up against bullshit, but it was definitely a case of picking your battles.
Ukraine beggars are rediculous
Zelensky can only blame himself. If he showed some sense and restraint he would have returned to Ukraine with the deal. This is not the way you should act with Trump, and I should say especially not when your country depends on US support to the extend Ukraine does.