The adult response to a toddler’s tantrum

The dumpster-fire of a meeting in the oval office last Friday will go down in the history books – and is still pretty much the only thing anyone’s talking about. As an American living in the UK, my perspective is slightly different than the average, though I think most informed people all on the same page. 

Essentially, Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Washington to negotiate a rare earth mineral agreement, something the US desperately needs, in hopes of getting support for a peace deal with Russia that provides meaningful protection for Ukraine. This should’ve been a quick event – whereby there were some handshakes, general statements and quick photos – but this was not that. 

Instead, over the course of 139 minutes, Trump and JD Vance ganged up on him like school yard bullies. They interrupted him, they chastised him, and ultimately, they threw him out of the White House. Nominally, the argument was about Zelensky not being appreciative enough for the aid the US had already given, but it seemed more like an opportunity to beat up on someone just to look tough.

During the meeting in the oval office – JD Vance uttered something about ‘American families having done enough’ – a flimsy argument to cut the needed foreign aid. It reminded me of discussions I had with my family three years ago, as we debated if we could reorganise our home to make room for a Ukrainian family. While sadly we decided we couldn’t make it work, I was so proud of the other families across the UK who welcomed Ukrainians into their homes, giving more than 200,000 mothers and children a place to be safe- a true act of generosity. 

There is some debate out about whether the meeting was planned, a purposeful showing to rile up the MAGA base, or if it was truly unscripted – potentially started by such a simple insult as Zelenskyy not wearing a suit and tie. On the one hand, it’s impossible to imagine that something as trivial as that could be worth playing around with global politics, but on the other hand, it isn’t hard to believe when dealing with a man who is deeply fragile and easily provoked.

For anyone who was able to stomach their way through the full thing (not me), apparently Trump ended the meeting by saying ‘This is going to be great television, I will say that’. Reports say that he accomplished his goal, in that his base felt supportive of the meeting and his performance, while everyone else is using words like ‘embarrassing’, ‘disgusting’, and ‘terrifying’. 

Zelenskyy is now in Belgium, working with European leaders to secure the support he needs after the US pulled its aid and intel. Signs look promising that there will be an agreement today, with almost universal agreement that we needed to come together to help.   I can say my ongoing embarrassment of his behaviour is only compensated by the actions of British and European governments, who thankfully, continue to behave like the adults in the room.