Opinion
By Jeff Childers
8/19/25
Good morning, C&C, it’s Tuesday! Owing to a wee-hours travel schedule this morning, today’s roundup is a special edition: The Trump-Europe-Ukraine Peace and Security Summit— otherwise titled, Trump puts Europe in its Place.
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Yesterday’s widely covered White House event did not disappoint; the President found an astonishing third way. The most entertaining headline blooming in a field of stories about the Trump-Zelensky meeting was this remarkable sign of progress in the New York Times: “Zelensky Suits Up for Trump.” Trump always wins! Apart from that, how much did the men’s meeting dominate yesterday’s news cycle? This much:
It seems every journalist worth their pink Himalayan sea salt scribbled a story about Europe’s collective visit with the Oval Office. But perhaps the most informative article in the cascade of commentary was the Times’ submission headlined, “With Rush to Washington and Use of Flattery, E.U. Leaders Help Keep Talks On Track.”
What Trump accomplished was possibly the greatest political upheaval in world power in living history. All the Europeans got was herd immunity in a “sudden stampede of European leaders to Washington on Monday,” the Times explained. Like Belgian Blue cows trotting toward the dinner bell, all Europe’s top deciders —Macron, Starmer, Merz, Meloni, “Vonda” der Leyen, Rutte, etc— cantered up to attend their little Zelensky playing in the big game.
“He did so well,” a proud Emmanuel Macron might have glowed. “He said please and thank you and he never lost his temper. And he looked so grown up in his big boy clothes! Quel magnifique!”
Zelensky must have practiced like a maniac. The European leaders probably coached Zelensky through six crucial hours on Sunday (before Call of Duty time) to repeat his lines over and over: “peace and security, peace and security, peace and sec… trjascja! I forgot!” But when the crucial moment came, and he had his chance to perform, Zelensky did it; he told the American President both of his big boy words: “peace and security.”
He didn’t forget either word. Mr. Starmer was so proud.
🚀 At the end of the day, no deals were struck. President Trump interrupted the meeting at one point and spectacularly phoned President Putin, to coordinate a three-way meeting between himself and the two Vlads.
But yesterday’s real action lay in the show. The entire visit was scripted and theatrically framed like an episode of The Apprentice—World Domination Edition.
The optics were perfect for President Trump. He sat alone at the Resolute Desk —the undisputed center of the world’s solar system— while a line of Europe’s top leaders and Zelensky slouched in smaller chairs across from him, leaning back or leaning in, attentive, sober, notepads in hand, like they were attending a parent-teacher conference to endure a difficult conversation about little Vladimyr’s toilet habits.
They can only blame themselves. They demanded a place in Trump’s photo session. They insisted on showing up on short notice without knowing what they were walking into. Behold, another shot of that same scene, except this time from the other direction:
This photo practically bursts with America First symbolism and illustrates the imbalanced power dynamic even more intensely.
Trump sat squarely behind the Resolute Desk, in his high-backed leather executive chair, flags and awards flanking him, busts of a furious Lincoln scowling at them from Trump’s right and Ben Franklin soberly gazing at the detritus of his beloved Europe from the left, a portraited Ronald Reagan peering down approvingly from on high and overlooking the giant Ukraine battlefield map propped below him— Trump’s map. Across from the President was the half-circle of European leaders and a now-suited Zelensky, all crammed into identical wooden chairs like dutiful students at Bedtime for Bonzo.
If you think these photo ops happened accidentally and weren’t carefully staged, preplanned, and story-boarded, then I’ve got a fabulous Florida waterfront acre to sell you— right next to Alligator Alcatraz.
Trump tricked them— and they did all the work. Europe boxed itself in. They rushed across the Atlantic in a panic, crashed the prestigious bilateral talks, demanded to be “in the room,” and in so doing, staged their own humiliation. Instead of equals, they all appeared as petitioners just like Zelensky, all bowing to the American President.
They thought they were “backing Zelensky,” but instead they ended up being human props in the photo op of the century: America in command, Europe bowing.
And Lincoln’s angry bust didn’t like what he saw.
🚀 Flipping through the official press pics, one cannot avoid a profound sense of surreality. It’s almost indescribable. Fox’s John Roberts remarked, “I covered the White House for more than a decade, and never witnessed a meeting like this.”
In the formal press photo, Trump stands smiling, front and center, literally framed by Europe’s entire leadership, standing in a row like prom dates waiting for him to pick who gets the corsage. Zelensky, shoved in the middle, was dwarfed by Trump, Macron, and Scholz, while Ursula von der Leyen looked like she was clutching her overdue homework.
I don’t know what PM Starmer’s crabbed and stoic facial expression meant, but he seemed like a man sensing a disturbing intestinal rumbling and silently wondering in terror whether it’s happening again. Uh-oh.
🚀 If one thing were absolutely clear about the devastating optics, it was that Trump took advantage of the Europeans’ bum rush to upend the world order, at least visually. For decades, G7 summit photo-ops have been carefully curated to suggest the U.S. president and Europe’s leaders were equals. Behold, for contrast, President Cabbage:
But now, not even a year later, Trump’s carefully programmed omnilateral meeting shattered the illusion. Trump sits and stands at the center of the political universe, while all of Europe’s most powerful leaders line up like minimum-wage extras. Yesterday’s optics said the quiet part out loud: the U.S. is now the decider. Europe is just the entourage.
How times change:
🚀 Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find any historical comparisons. Nothing even comes close, since most historic summit imagery tries hard to hide hierarchy and strives for balance. Versailles staged pomp, Yalta showed parity, Camp David framed compromise; none elevated a particular leader. Yesterday’s Trump-Zelensky-Europe Oval Office summit shots do the exact opposite: they revealed an undeniable power imbalance, in all its naked glory.
Simply put, Trump demolished another norm. He didn’t treat the Europeans as equals. He treated them like vassals. And though they must have hated it, they took it.
After the meeting, Finnish President Alex Stubb praised President Trump, saying more progress has been made in the last few weeks on ending the Ukraine war than in the past three years. Stubb enthused, “it’s Team US and Team Europe leading the way.” Kier Starmer said, “there was a real sense of unity; We achieved two important outcomes that move us closer to a just peace in Ukraine and greater security in Europe.”
As we’d hoped, President Trump found the third way that nobody predicted. He gave zero ground. He threaded the cacaphony of security demands by announcing that Europe will provide any security guarantees to Kiev, and the U.S. would “coordinate” from the sidelines by selling weapons to Ukraine and Europe. (And buying Ukraine’s drones, according to some reports.) Trump flat ruled out NATO membership.
Here’s Trump’s post-meeting Truth:
During the meeting, President Trump dramatically called President Putin and confirmed a bilateral meeting with Zelensky (location TBA), after which the three men will sit down for a trilateral meeting, presumably to nail down a final “peace and security” deal.
At bottom, yesterday’s meeting — which has dominated a week’s news— was less about peace and security and more about one-upmanship. But if these kinds of optics didn’t matter, then leaders wouldn’t always be so precise and careful about every other photo appearance. The Europeans surrendered control for a second, and Trump drove his trash truck right into Brussels.
Have a terrific Tuesday! C&C will return tomorrow morning, with a normal roundup of essential news and caustic commentary.
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The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida
