CNN
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Things change rapidly in the world of Donald Trump.
A few days ago, the US president mistakenly branded Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky as a “dictator” who started the Russian war in Ukraine and had “no card” to perform.
However, on Friday the heroes of the Ukrainian War will welcome the full White House.
“We’re going to have a really good meeting. …We’re going to do really well. Ok, we have a lot of respect. Trump said Thursday.
Zelensky had his own inspiration.
Last week he accused Trump of pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin from isolation after the US sent his officials to peace talks in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine. He then warned that the US president was living in a “space of disinformation.”
But Zelensky learned an important lesson. Give Trump a victory.
The Ukrainian president is traveling to Washington to sign a contract for the US to utilize Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources. The first draft of the contract seemed to force colonial plunder into a hopeless country. Zelensky refused to sign it, warning him that he could not sell out the wealth of his country. Trump had claimed he could make $5 trillion to repay US taxpayers for military and financial lifelines to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
The latest version seems far less troublesome for Ukraine. This began discussion last year about funding the restructuring of devastated cities and infrastructure using mineral stocks. There is talk of the Joint Reconstruction Fund, but there is no mention of Trump’s initial claim to the value of $500 billion. This was the perfect parlance for our foreign policy vision, which views the world as a real estate transaction.
perhaps. But even if he could remove the most punitive aspect of the proposed deal, the truth is that Zelensky had few options. He is about to return to peace negotiations and force it. And if his first visit with Trump since his re-election calms down as he fears Ukraine will sell out, it may also retain the possibility of a long-term relationship with the US, a few days ago that was unlikely to be expected.
Zelensky styles the agreement solely as a framework for future agreements. Mainly because he is trying to utilize Ukrainian mineral wealth for future US security assurances.
So why thaw it?
Trump provided clues during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week.
“I’m trading. My whole life is trading,” Trump said.
Just because rare earth minerals are not as good as the president’s expectations does not mean he will not sell it as an extraordinary victory for himself and the Americans.
“We’re going to sign the contract, which is going to be a very big deal,” the president said before cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Trump’s enthusiasm for the contract conveniently forgot his previous claim that he had grumble, as the Ukrainian president was on the other side of the call that led to his first bounce each.
“Did I say that? I can’t believe I said it. Next question?” Trump said in his oval office Thursday with hints of a smirk.
A lot may have changed between Zelensky and Trump these days.
But nothing changed between Trump and Putin. And the US leader’s full confidence display in the latest Russian leader has generated a huge, flashing alarm bell about the kind of deal he might try to do with Russia.
“I think he’ll keep his words. I told him, I’ve known him for a long time, do you know?” Trump said in his oval office with British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer. “I don’t think he’s going to violate what he says. I don’t think he’ll come back when we do a deal.”
There is a debate among Western leaders that only Trump could lead Putin to the table, bringing devastating sacrifices among civilians, destroying the vast strip of Ukraine and ending the war that shook the world. And if the President ensures just and lasting peace, he would deserve the Nobel Prize he longs for.
But there is a concrete horror among European US allies, just as Trump settles for a contract with the Russian leader examining the illegal conquest of about 20% of Ukrainian territory, setting the table for even worse wars in the future, and tempting Putin to bite another Europe, perhaps a Baltic Sea chunk.
This week, both priority and Macron made harsh statements in front of Trump.
“We have to get it right,” the star said at a press conference with Trump on Thursday. “There’s a famous slogan in Britain since the Second World War. It means we have to win peace. And that’s what we have to do now, because rewarding the invaders, or encouraging a regime like Iran is not peace.”
Macron tried to impress Trump that it was impossible to make a deal with Russian leaders and that he expelled his complaints about his pre-invasion deal with Putin. “I had several times with Putin, seven hours, the start of 2022, especially (particularly) some debate. 15 days before the start of the attack, he denied everything,” Macron said.
There is no reason why Trump believes in Putin’s integrity. All five US administrations have tried to reset their relationship with Russia and its strongman leader. Each attempt failed. And Putin repeatedly broke his words – recently when he denied that he had a plan to invade Ukraine.
Trump’s willingness to accept the Russian president in his words, and the possibility that it could lead to a settlement rather than a solid and lasting peace deal has made many former officials worried.
“I think that’s important to the president and he understands he’s trying to take Putin to the table, but he needs to know that President Putin can’t trust him and that he has to verify what he’s doing.”
Former NATO commander-in-chief James Stablidis added, “I wouldn’t trust him as much as I could throw him.”
Stavridis rephrased the message that Putin should have been spelled out when Trump meets them – perhaps in a few weeks. “Tell him, “The day you reinvade is the day we’ll take Ukraine to NATO,” he said. “Or, “The day you reinvade is the day our army joins the French and British forces in Ukrainian.”
Trump may be listening to such a perspective, but given his volatility and contradictions it is often difficult to be certain.
“It’s – trust and verification, let’s call it,” the president said Thursday. “I know a lot of people you’ll say they have no chance to deceive you, and they are the worst people in the world. I know other people who guarantee they will deceive you, and what do you know? They are 100% honor. So you never know what you’re getting.”
The visit in priority was an example of a show where European leaders have been forced to reach a president who has threatened to demolish the international order 80 years ago since the end of World War II.
The Prime Minister is a disciplined, former barrister and is unknown in the political theatre. However, he pulled a letter from Charles III from his oval office pocket and gave a great show inviting Trump for his state visit.
“The answer is yes. Your country is a wonderful country,” the delighted president praised the king, saying that the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who hosted Trump on a 2017 state visit. “He is a great gentleman. A great, great gentleman. Ah,” Trump said. “That’s a pretty signature, isn’t it? Beautiful. And he’s a beautiful guy, a great guy.”
One of the most uncontrollable efforts to treat Trump’s ego in the second term of the foreign leader’s previous thickened priorities, the priority has thickened it. “This is an invitation to my second state visit. This is truly special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.”
The British Prime Minister may find that flattery sometimes goes nowhere with Trump. However, as it stands, the fate of Ukraine may be in the tightrope between the dignity of the travel and the pageantry to see the king on the other hand.
However, one veteran British political observer was appalled at the sight.
“It was humiliating in a way,” former minister and former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable told CNN Jim Sait at CNN International. “I think we have to praise the fact that he is willing to accept this humiliation in order to achieve certain political outcomes,” Cable said in order of priorities.
“As a British person, it’s embarrassing me to see this kind of abolishment,” Cable said. “But if he can achieve anything, I think we need to accept that it is the way this president needs.”
This story was updated on Friday with additional developments.
