It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war.
Facing a wave of criticism from his former Senate colleagues, Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the complaints lobbed by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance against Ukraine’s leader.
After the White House began to handpick pool reporters, Brian Glenn of the conservative Real America’s Voice network got to be front and center for the Ukrainian president’s visit.
The question hovering over Washington was whether the confrontation was a spontaneous outburst or a planned verbal smack down.
Many Republicans have made a reversal on Russia and Ukraine, falling in line behind President Trump. No turnabout has been more striking than that of the Republican speaker.
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance castigated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for not being grateful enough for U.S. aid. “You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump told Zelensky.
Never in the past few decades at least has an American president engaged in such an angry, scathing attack on a visiting foreign leader in the Oval Office.
The ratings are never far from President Trump’s mind.
The Biden administration saw the $67 billion in military assistance it provided to Kyiv as essential. Trump sees any further aid as leverage.
The lack of transparency surrounding the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is emerging as a target in the courts.