JD Vance was considered to be an insignificant vice-president.
But his starring role in Friday’s explosion between Donald Trump and Volodimia Zelensky — he played the cross between Trump’s Bulldog and Tech Bro Iago — may mark the moment when the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally fell apart.
Trump and Vance united with Goad Zelenskyy to help out a feud in the oval office. However, it was Vance who first meandered his way and lurched the Ukrainian president by telling him he was leading a “propaganda tour” of the destruction that was born out of Russian invasion.
“I think it would be rude to come to an oval office and try to sue this in front of the American media,” Vance said. “You take people on a propaganda tour, President… do you think it’s respectful to come to the elliptical offices of the United States and attack an administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
“Everyone has problems during the war,” replied Zelenskyy. “But you have a lovely ocean and you don’t feel it now. But you will feel it in the future.”
“You don’t know that,” Trump angrily replied. “You don’t know that. You shouldn’t tell us what we’re trying to feel.”
The rest was “great TV,” as Trump would call it later. By design, it was disastrous for Ukraine.
This was Vance’s second great intervention this month. His euroskeptical worldview focused on Munich. There he accused European leaders of suppressing their freedom of speech and shocking them by saying, “If you’re running for fear of your voters, there’s nothing America can do for you.”
At the time, Kaja Karas, head of foreign policy for the European Union, said, “After hearing that speech… they don’t want to choose to fight us, fight our friends.”
However, on Friday, Vance finally got his fight. The US vice president is quietly bringing together foreign policy teams with deep skepticism about Kiev’s value as a future ally. And European officials lined up Zelensky, saying that the Trump team’s performance in the oval office showed the US really lined up with Vladimir Putin in the war.
“It’s a moment of calm right now, but it’s not a portable one,” wrote Kamille Grand, a well-known policy fellow at NATO’s Council of Europe and former secretary general of Defense Investment. “Our allies now formally have decided to take a stance that contradicts our traditionally shared interests and values. This may be temporary, but this will have profound and lasting consequences.”
In Washington, many people understand, but it is rare to say that the Trump administration was looking for an excuse to ruin its relationship with Ukraine, and that the canned message that follows the oval office is strangely tuned and planned.
“It was a train wreck by design,” said Sam Green, a professor of Russian politics at King’s College London. “The quiet conversation since Munich has been to overturn Ukraine. If a real deal becomes unachievable, someone will have to blame it, and it will probably be Ukrainians, right?”
By Friday afternoon, the Trump administration had explained to reporters and considered cutting all military aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, vehicles and missiles waiting for missiles, as they were so upset by Zelenskyy’s actions. Officials told the Washington Post that the conflict with Zelensky was not planned.
However, the commentary of the party’s allies was oddly standard and repetitive. Lindsey Graham, who posed for a photo with Zelenskyy just hours ago, said, “America is being downplayed and the deal is off. I’ve never been proud of President @RealdonaldTrump and Vice President @Jdvance to America.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters until he confirmed him. Thank you for putting America first. America is with you! ”
Trump envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said, “I was honored to be with @potus, @vp and (rubio) bilaterally with President Zelensky with @potus, @vp and (rubio). He was standing for America because the president has always come… America’s first.”
It’s hard to know who is more lightly empty. They were just people who wanted this and they just went with them. As Trump tears into Zelensky, there are photos of him sitting side by side in Rubio and Vance’s oval office. Rubio looks very uncomfortable, his hands are clenched and his face is falling. Vance appears to be EC. He finally got the fight he wanted to choose.
