OrneryCoot
4 hours ago
Zelensky failed to realize that Trump WAS giving him a real, tangible security guarantee. He was promising American shoes (not boots) on the ground in the form of American workers and executives to work the mineral deal. I think he doesn't realize just how far Trump would take that responsibility to protect those American workers. The first time Putin endangered those citizens would have brought him a whole lot of pain. Putin knows this about Trump, which would have stopped him from trying it. No, they weren't soldiers. With our country, it didn't need to be. Zelensky had what he wanted but couldn't realize it due to his arrogance and basic misunderstanding of American culture. Now, he's left to either squeeze blood out of Europe's turnip of military might, or be replaced by a less narcissistic Ukrainian leader.

The point is not about Donald Trump, and the meaning of the moment is much larger than most of the reporting suggests. The claim that it’s outrageous, unprecedented, and a crisis to fire flag officers is laughable. It’s also dangerous and threatens to reduce civilian control of the military if the premise is accepted at all. If it’s an illegitimate act for President Donald Trump to fire senior military officers, then it’s illegitimate for presidents to fire senior military officers — all presidents. It means that anyone who wears stars on his or her collar is somehow untouchable, a member of a protected guild that stands above political control. “You can’t fire me — I’m a general.” Good luck with that. //

The current president’s decision to fire flag officers isn’t a break with American law and tradition. The “Appeal to Congress” from former secretaries of defense certainly is. The warning about a crisis is the crisis. This dangerous argument needs to be hammered into its grave, quickly and forcefully.

The basic gist of Trump's remarks was this: The U.S. wants to broker peace, but Zelensky wants to keep fighting with assistance from the U.S.

High-ranking White House officials confirmed to CBS News that President Trump is unwilling to talk to Zelensky at this point because of Zelensky's disinterest in peace. //

High-level Trump sources tell me the White House is now uncertain if they can get the Russians and Ukrainians to stop fighting because this episode with @ZelenskyyUa raised questions about whether he can move forward toward a peace deal. It also raises questions about whether US will pause aid to Ukraine. But Trump is NOT seeking regime change in Ukraine. No discussions about who in Ukraine might be a better leader than Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian officials have reached out this afternoon to senior White House officials desperate to get the deal back on track. But that will not happen today, I'm told. Trump is unwilling to talk to Zelenskyy further today.

When Rubio and Waltz went into the Roosevelt Room to ask Zelenskyy to leave, Rubio made it clear that any further engagements today would be counterproductive. Waltz told Zelenskyy he had made a tremendous mistake, and it was a grave disservice to Ukraine and to Americans, both.

No phone calls between Trump and Putin have been scheduled. But multiple European officials have called top Trump officials since Zelenskyy left asking how the minerals deal can be salvaged.

Trump fully intended to sign the minerals deal today. Two official binders were prepared -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Ukrainian counterpart and the two presidents were going to sit at a conference table in the East Room and then trumpet their success at podiums.

But there were suspicions before Zelenskyy arrived today that it might fall apart. Because the Trump admin had been pushing for weeks for a minerals deal signing at the ministerial level, and Ukraine had refused. Zelenskyy wanted security guarantees.

US officials thought negotiations would be much harder with Putin so today have been been in disbelief that it has been Zelenskyy who has been more difficult, making maximalist demands, sources told me. //

Greg Price
@greg_price11
·
Follow
Zelenskyy declares that he won't negotiate an end to the war without security guarantees from the United States -- And then admits that he doesn't have enough weapons to push Russia out of Ukraine -- And then demands more money from the U.S.

Last edited
11:56 PM · Feb 28, 2025. //

RedDog_FLA
an hour ago
Zelesky forgot the he's dealing with the Producer of the Apprentice.

Zelensky thought he could manage an on-camera negotiation with the dealmaker. 🤔

He might not get another chance... it's possible he has been FIRED.

Bob Smalser
an hour ago
"If it’s true that Blinken, Rice, Nuland, and Vindman conference called with Zelensky on the flight to DC advising him to "stand strong" and "be tough" and "don't let Trump bully you" it seems to have backfired. Perhaps FBI Director Patel should meet with those clowns for a debriefing (and Logan Act discussion) after talking with a foreign head of state.". //

Slappy
an hour ago edited
The way Zelenskyy bombed this meeting publically like that, I think he isn't stupid, he did it because he wanted to torpedo any ceasefire deal and he's unwilling to settle for peace. The Europeans are all that's left, so maybe he thinks that's who he played up to here. I wish them and Ukraine luck, because blowing up what's left of the relationship with the U.S. is one hell of a risky move.

Slappy
an hour ago edited
The way Zelenskyy bombed this meeting publically like that, I think he isn't stupid, he did it because he wanted to torpedo any ceasefire deal and he's unwilling to settle for peace. The Europeans are all that's left, so maybe he thinks that's who he played up to here. I wish them and Ukraine luck, because blowing up what's left of the relationship with the U.S. is one hell of a risky move.

Sean Davisb@seanmdav
·
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.

Christian Datoc @TocRadio
TRUMP: "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."
8:05 PM · Feb 28, 2025. //

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. As such, there was no deal. Moreover, Zelensky attempted to pressure Trump into capitulation through our own media, which was a costly mistake. Trump is not beholden to the American media as other leaders are.

But Zelensky's error came from a habit he never should have never been allowed to develop. The Democrats — and too many Republicans — taught Zelensky that he was in charge. They caved to him constantly because the last thing they wanted was for our own media, who fawn and worship the ground Zelensky walks on, to turn on them. That would result in massive blowback from Democrat supporters, including their donors. //

Ultimately, the Democrat at the negotiating table asks, "what's expedient for me politically right now?" When the question that they should be asking themselves — and Trump clearly understands — is "how does this put America and Americans in the best position possible?"

The answer is sometimes not to make a deal at all. It's not sexy to come back and say negotiations fell apart, especially to a bloodthirsty media who makes everything sound like every failed deal moves us closer to doomsday, but again, Trump isn't concerned with the media, he's concerned with America.

And Democrats just can't seem to wrap their heads around that. //

TexasVeteran
3 hours ago edited
"The answer is sometimes not to make a deal at all."

Trump is channeling his inner Ronnie! Remember when Reagan walked away from a nuke deal with Gorbachev in Iceland? It lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union!🤔. //

anon-m0b0
2 hours ago
The war with Putin is a gigantic money-laundering operation that Zelensky and Democrats (and some Republicans) are getting rich from. Trump knows this. He wants to end the war and end the corruption. Zelensky is not ready for peace because a lot of people are getting rich. The mineral rights are some repayment to U.S. taxpayers for tax dollars sitting in oligarchs bank accounts.

Zelensky is counting on the U.S. press to do his dirty work to Trump. He doesn't realize Trump doesn't care.

Zelensky will be back at the table when the money is gone. He made his own bargaining position worse and he still doesn't realize yet.

There was a very touching moment when Vice President Vance spoke of something "really amazing that happened to me in November of 2024." And that moment was? "Of course, I'm talking about when my seven-year-old chose to be baptized into the Christian faith," saying it was maybe "the proudest moment that I've ever had as a father."

The vice president also offered some insight into his and wife Usha's interfaith marriage.

But, as many of you know I am part of an interfaith marriage. My wife, though she comes to church with us almost every single Sunday, she is not Catholic herself and so the bargain that we have struck is that we will raise our kids Catholic, but we will let them choose the moment that they want to ultimately become baptized.

A Statement from President Donald J. Trump

“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. 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.”. //

Cletus Maximus
5 hours ago
The tone of this meeting needed to happen. How long has it been since someone literally got their ass kicked out of the Oval Office? This video should be in the curriculum for every business school. //

Skibum
5 hours ago
I suspect that Zelenskyy agreed to things in private and then tried to play tough in public for his home crowd. Boy did that prove to be a mistake.

Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱
@marcthiessen
·
Follow
This is entirely Zelensky’s fault. Trump greeted him graciously, was ready to turn the page. Just said he wanted to get help Ukraine get it’s territory back. And Z comes in and gets into a fight in public? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
TV News Now
@TVNewsNow
🚨 WATCH: Here’s the FULL exchange of President Trump and VP Vance EXCORIATING Zelenskyy
Embedded video
6:14 PM · Feb 28, 2025

Jacqui Heinrich
@JacquiHeinrich
·
WH OFFICIALS TELL FOX:-

TRUMP KICKED OUT ZELENSKYY – HE DID NOT WALK OFF ON HIS OWN

-RARE MINERALS DEAL WAS NOT SIGNED.

• WH SAYS “UKRAINANS WERE BEGGING TO RESET” BUT RUBIO AND WALTZ INFORMED THEM ZELENSKYY NEEDS TO LEAVE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS, RETURN WHEN HE’S READY FOR PEACE

-THE PRESIDENT AND US OFFICIALS FELT DISRESPECTED BY ZELENSKYY’S RHETORIC AND DEMEANOR

– CITED THAT HE WAS “SHRUGGING AND ROLLING HIS EYES” DURING THE CONVERSATION

**WHEN I WENT TO UPPER PRESS TO ASK WHAT WAS GOING ON, THE LUNCH THAT TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY WERE SUPPOSED TO DINE ON AND TALK OVER WAS SITTING IN THE HALLWAY. I’M TOLD WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE STAFFERS WILL BE EATING IT.
6:52 PM · Feb 28, 2025

This was a colossal miscalculation by Zelensky. Trump has never accepted the idea that Ukraine is doing the United States a favor by fighting Russia as a way of justifying unlimited aid. Perhaps Joe Biden found that argument persuasive, but Joe Biden is not in office anymore. Russia is not going to invade the United States or any NATO country (if for no other reason than a lack of capability), and using that as a type of blackmail for support was never going to play.

Here's the deal. Fairness or being "right" doesn't factor into a situation like this. Zelensky is in a desperate spot, and Trump had largely acquiesced to a very Ukraine-friendly deal over the last few days (including lowering the repayment amount to just $90 billion). The negotiations were over. All the Ukrainian president had to do was show up, shake hands, smile for the cameras, and sign the deal. His attempt to lecture Trump and Vance for the cameras was an ego move that he didn't have the leverage to pull off.

Trump does not care about the press. You aren't going to bully him into a certain point of view by appealing to CNN or any other legacy news outlet. Whether that's fair or not is irrelevant. What's relevant is the reality of the moment, and Zelensky chose to pick a fight with Vance when it was completely unnecessary. Liz Cheney and David Frum may do performative outrage online, but they are not going to cut a check to Ukraine. Zelensky needed this deal and chose to blow it up for no good reason. What was the point of him even coming to the White House if he was going to publicly denounce any possible ceasefire?

What this really comes down to is how Zelensky handled this. If he has issues with Trump negotiating a deal with Putin, then he should express those behind closed doors, which is something Vance pointed out during the exchange. By trying to embarrass and undermine the U.S. president in public, he destroyed an already frayed relationship. In doing so, he might have cost his country its war. //

Claudius54
3 hours ago
"What the Heck Was Zelensky Thinking?"

Simple. He was thinking that he had leverage. ... he was mistaken. //

etba_ss anon-6tg1
2 hours ago
When you can't get along with Vance and Rubio either, the problem is pointing toward Zelenskyy. //

etba_ss
4 hours ago
Keep in mind, that Rubio has already pointed out that they reached a deal with Zelenskyy before. Then he left the meeting and went to the press and claimed he told them "no" and he isn't signing any mineral rights. Rubio called him a liar in public over the whole deal. Now they agree to a deal and instead of signing it, Zelenskyy pulls this stunt.

What an idiot.

Jesse Kelly
@JesseKellyDC
·
Follow
All else aside, how much does Trump respect @JDVance? It’s cool to watch. He doesn’t keep him on any kind of leash. He must think very highly of him.

I dig it.
6:37 PM · Feb 28, 2025 //

Mike Lee
@BasedMikeLee
·
Follow
Is @JDVance the GOAT Vice President of the United States?

A—Yes

B—No
Gunther Eagleman™
@GuntherEagleman
Vance is by far the best VP I've seen, ever.
8:37 PM · Feb 28, 2025 //

TexasVeteran
an hour ago edited
"Is @JDVance the GOAT Vice President of the United States?"

It’s the beard! He’s channeling Unconditional Surrender Grant! //

ThatGuy81
an hour ago edited
I didn't realize we were electing Terminater VP along with the lion of a president, but here we are and I am here for it.

JD Vance @JDVance
·
Pretty amazing. We’ve gotten too accustomed to our president hiding from the press.

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh
🚨 NEW: Questions from the press taken in the first month, various presidents

🔵 Barack Obama: 161
🔴 Donald Trump [2017]: 199
🔵 Joe Biden: 141
🔴 Donald Trump [present]: 1,009

National Journal
2:35 AM · Feb 27, 2025. //

I believe I've remarked on this previously, but I want to take a moment to tip my hat to the current Trump administration for making full use of media — social and traditional — to continually get their message out to the American people. Rather than leaving Trump as the primary spokesman and leaving it up to legacy media to report on what he says and does accurately (ha!), this administration is wisely conducting a non-stop positive messaging assault via multiple telegenic and articulate surrogates. The entire Cabinet is regularly making the rounds and is highly visible on X, sharing tweets and videos of them actually doing things that make sense. This is a wise, effective strategy, in my view. It leaves the Democrats and their legacy media stenographers playing defense and looking rather silly in the process. //

GranpaNuke
18 hours ago
Your Morning Musing was spot on Susie....I had a similar thought yesterday after I read and commented on Trump's First Cabinet meeting:

"The Trump administration is executing a perfect end sweep around the front line of the main stream media. The speed with which they communicate the issues, and the use of the various means of mass communications schemes is something to behold. The legacy MSM just can't keep up with the information flow. They're stuck on stupid, lunging at the next shining object. They are in overload....and hopefully will remain in overload until they overheat and go up in flames....
I just remembered something a Naval Intel Analyst told my class at Destroyer School in Newport, RI. He was an expert on Russia (this was in the mid 80's). He said the Russian Intel folks had so much open sourced information coming in about the US Armed Forces and our capabilities, that they couldn't process and verify it all...they were overloaded and had a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff...
Seems like deja vu all over again..."

Shipwreckedcrew
@shipwreckedcrew
·
Follow
I love all the press coverage tonight of CJ Roberts' order from about 10:00 pm ET.

All the usual suspects -- AP, Reuters, ABC, etc., all refer to it as a "temporary" hold on the order that the Court entered.

No. The Orders are "Stayed" pending further order of the Court.

If the CJ Roberts thought the District Judge was within his authority to order the Executive to spend specific amounts on money on specific grants/contracts on or before midnight tonight, he could have simply done nothing.

Instead he said the Admin need not comply with the Order. //

Shipwreckedcrew
@shipwreckedcrew
·
Follow
So CJ Roberts steps in around 10:00 and issues a stay on the Order to Enforce His TRO entered by Judge Amir Ali in DC -- a District Court judge for all of 90 days.

Judge Ali's TRO had commanded that the Executive

While the "merits" of the withholding might be subject to some legitimate legal debate, when a higher court -- or the Chief Justice -- steps in so abruptly there is very often a key issue that the lower court judge is simply ignoring in his haste to "do right" -- and I think that is the problem here. The District Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the claim or provide the relief requested -- whether the plaintiffs are entitled to it or not. Judge Ali brushed off the questions about jurisdiction in his fit of pique over what he saw as DOJ non-compliance with his Order. But there is a truism that all federal civil litigators know -- one that never occurs to legal reporter: "Jurisdiction is always at issue.". //

Has the Supreme Court finally gotten fed up with courts setting executive-branch policies? Based on last night’s intervention by Chief Justice Supreme Court John Roberts, the answer could be yes.

“We don’t think he acted alone,” Hagmann told The Post. “This took a lot of coordination. In my view, Crooks was handled by more than one individual and he was used for this [assassination attempt]. And I wouldn’t preclude the possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him.”. //

Hagmann's argument about the need for "a lot of coordination" appears to be mere assertion; he has no evidence, or, at least, none he presents in the account. //

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) — part of a bipartisan task force looking into Crooks’ actions and his death — found that it although a Secret Service sniper took him down with the kill shot, it was a local SWAT officer who made the shot that initially took him down — something the FBI did not report at the time. //

Higgins, who has also been investigating Crooks’ assassination attempt for months, has not seen Hagmann’s geofencing data but downplayed its significance. He told The Post he believes Crooks acted alone and there was no conspiracy. However, he also said the FBI continually obstructed his investigation. //

Of course, it's difficult for the saner among us to comprehend what might set off someone like this. As the late, great Paul Harvey used to say when describing the acts of some criminal goblin, "If you could understand it, we'd have to worry about you."

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald
·
Gross! The ordinary people and the unlicensed peasants are able to speak with and even influence elites in DC who are running the government. The NYT is horrified.
3:36 PM · Feb 26, 2025. //

The article attempts to put reasons why these things should be there, but only makes it more obvious that Musk is doing the people's work.

And that's exactly what's happening here. Rufo and Raichik are oftentimes passed the information from people like you and me. Using their platforms that they built over time, they drag these things into the light where Musk can see it more clearly, then Musk gets his team on it and elevate it to someone with the authority to destroy it, sometimes that person being Trump himself.

It's not just these two, either. Musk doesn't just interact with influencers. He interacts with people of all stripes, taking their advice, listening to their suggestions, and acting accordingly.

And this is what truly drives the left bonkers.

The left values authority, and no one has more authority than over-educated elites. They're the ones who know best! How dare the unwashed take control of something they're not qualified to run?

But that's exactly how America functions.

Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11
President Trump’s first cabinet meeting opens in prayer. Amen.

Generations of America’s leaders have leaned on the leading and providence of God. We need God to lead us now.

Thank you
@SecretaryTurner

According to the whistleblower, two female FBI undercover employees infiltrated Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign at high levels and were directed to act as “honeypots” while traveling with Mr. Trump and his campaign staff. //

This was not part of Crossfire Hurricane, this was reportedly a different operation.

The whistleblower agent “personally knew” that Mr. Comey ordered an FBI investigation into Mr. Trump and that Mr. Comey “personally directed it,” according to the disclosure. //

anon-adwq
21 minutes ago
This operation agains Trump was launched in 2015. The fact that all Biden's pardons of his stooges and his family begin in 2014 makes sense now.

The Dark Lord anon-adwq
15 minutes ago
Yes. John Brennan also started his overseas operations against Page, Papadopolous, Clovis, and Caputo also began in late 2015 or early 2016. One of those also allegedly involved a honeypot, either with Joseph Mifsud or Stefan Halper.

A new poll by Harvard CAPS-Harris reveals the majority of the country backs President Donald J. Trump and his actions to bring much-needed reforms that are making America great again.

81% support deporting criminal illegal immigrants.
76% support a “full-scale effort to find and eliminate fraud and waste in government.”
76% support closing the border with additional security and policies.
69% support keeping men out of women’s sports.
68% support government declaring there are only two genders.
65% support ending race-based hiring in government.
63% support “freezing and re-evaluating all foreign aid expenditures and the department that handled them.”
61% support reciprocal tariffs.
60% support direct U.S. negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
59% support cutting government spending already approved by Congress.
57% support ending the ban on new offshore drilling. //

olinka2022
4 hours ago
"Do you think Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) departments are needed in government or should they be eliminated to reduce waste?

this assumes that people actually understand what DEI is. I don't think that half of them understands their full meaning and implications.

Random Commenter olinka2022
3 hours ago
Which is good feedback for the Trump admin. Their message isn't understood. They need to keep educating people about what DEI actually does, and the problems it has caused.

I'd guess that at least a quarter of the people who currently think we need DEI would change their minds if they understood the reality of it.

Charlie Kirk

@charliekirk11
·
Follow
For the first time in my lifetime we have an administration that is dead serious about rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government so the next generation doesn’t live as debt slaves.

Every expense must be justified—with our tax dollars you are guilty until proven innocent.

5:11 PM · Feb 24, 2025. //

The thing to realize about the government is that it's not a citizen of the United States, and thus isn't subject to the same rights as we are. In fact, the government doesn't technically have any rights, it has allowances as agreed upon by the people of the United States of America. It has certain powers, to be sure, but these powers can be increased, decreased, or eliminated as the people see fit.

As you can see, this is exactly what's happening with DOGE. The people demanded a reduction in government power and a removal of waste, and that's exactly what's happening. Even as the Democrats and leftists cry foul, the government is losing its power.

There is a simple truth buried here.

If a government is unable or unwilling to reveal how it's using the money it takes from us with the threat of punishment for not giving up, then it's not our government. //

. In fact, government is often times a necessary evil, born out of a need to inhibit the worst impulses of man, whether those impulses be foreign or domestic. It is a system necessary for civilization to happen in an imperfect world, but it's the fact that we have an imperfect world that the system we create to curb is itself imperfect, and thus needs to be monitored, audited, and sometimes destroyed, at least in part so as not to have to be destroyed in its totality.

the Trump administration totally expects they are going to lose in court a lot. Do you know what it costs to do an executive order? A piece of paper and a Sharpie. That’s it. And they can go right back to the drawing board. One of these courts said, hey, the language was too vague. You know what that tells them? Just go draft another one. It's not like legislation where you need a bunch of people to agree on something.

[...]

They’re going to fight at every single turn. And that means appealing absolutely everything with the knowledge that they’re going to lose some of them because it costs them nothing. Executive Orders are the easiest thing to issue.

I do not see this as Trump losing over and over and over again. I think the more important bigger story is that they’re not going to stop and they’re going to keep fighting it every time, and they are going to win some of these. //

Political-Paige
4 hours ago
SCOTUS could end all this tomorrow with a sweeping (and utterly unassailable) order that these District Courts lack the power to issue nationwide injunctions against the Executive.
But the Roberts Court is so timid that it's allowing unprecedented chaos to reign across the country as activist inferior court judges strut their unearned power games.
It's appalling.