Opinion
Ken Timmerman’s Threat Watch, www.kentimmerman.com 2-28-25
| On Friday, Americans witnessed the most incredible “diplomatic” exchange of all time, on live TV! That was when Ukrainian president Zelenskyy came to the Oval Office and tried to shout down President Trump and Vice-President JD Vance in front of the cameras. I’ve been been reporting on world events for over forty years and I have never seen anything even remotely approaching the disgraceful performance of the Ukrainian war leader this afternoon. Earlier this week, you saw diplomacy as it is normally carried out with the visits of French president Macron and British prime minister Sturmer. Both, given the opportunity to comment on their relationship with President Trump during live press events and during separate one-on-one interviews with FoxNews anchor Brett Baer, applauded President Trump as a “game-changer,” whose innovative solutions provided hope for the first time in three years of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Could anyone imagine Joe Biden proposing a rare earth minerals and oil and gas investment deal with Ukraine that would intertwine the US and Ukrainian economies in such a way as to make Russian aggression so costly as to become highly unlikely? Frankly, I can’t imagine any of our previous presidents having the imagination to come up with such an innovative solution to guarantee Ukraine’s security without putting the lives of US servicemen and women at risk. Both the French and British leaders had the elegance – and the wisdom – to recognize this. Zelenskyy did not. Instead, he engaged in a shouting match with both President Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, talking over them non-stop like a badly-behaved TV guest. At one point, Vance berated Zelenskyy for not saying thank-you for U.S. aid. He also noted that Ukraine was having problems recruiting fresh troops, and frequently took US and European leaders on “propaganda tours” to jin up support. Zelenskyy responded dismissively, saying Vance didn’t know Ukraine and had only been to Ukraine once. Vance replied: “Do you think it is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” Zelenskyy then suggested that if the United States did not fully support the Ukraine war effort Putin would attack America. “You are protected by a nice ocean,” he said, “but you will feel that in the future.” Trump immediately cut him off. “You don’t know that. You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.” You can watch that exchange here. Finally Trump basically threatened to toss Zelenskyy out of the White House. “If we don’t get a deal, you will have to fight it out by yourselves and it won’t be pretty,” he said. Trump issued a statement on Truth Social shortly after the cameras went dark. “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.” One hour later, the cameras returned to the Oval Office for the “official” press conference, where the two leaders returned to diplomatic niceties. Clearly, Zelenskyy had gotten the message. I am sure that the spin rooms of the formerly mainstream media will be excoriating Trump in the days to come for confronting Zelenskyy. They will revive all the worn accusations that Trump has a soft spot for Russia, or is controlled by Putin. And they will miss the very real news contained in this unusually frank exchange: Donald Trump truly wants peace in Ukraine, and he knows there can only be peace if the U.S. and its allies come together to restrain both Russia and Ukraine, like friends and bystanders who restrain teenagers in a cafeteria brawl. But this brawl has been deadly, and as Trump repeatedly warned today, it could have led to World War III. It’s time for the killing to stop, no matter how much Zelenskyy, Putin, and their allies want it to continue. I discuss this in the heat of the moment on this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend. As always, you can listen live at 1 PM on Saturday on 104.9 FM or 550 AM in there Jacksonville, Florida, area, or listen to the podcast here. Yours in freedom, Ken |
| Ken Timmerman’s 14th book of non-fiction, THE IRAN HOUSE: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue, can be ordered by clicking here or by viewing my author’s page, here. Raising Olives in Provence, can be ordered by clicking here. – Senior Fellow, America First Policy Institute (current) – Republican nominee for Congress, Maryland District 8 (2012) – President & CEO, Foundation for Democracy in Iran, www.iran.org – Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2006 Cell: 904-817-8584 NEW NUMBER Follow me on Twitter @kentimmerman Facebook: ken timmerman New personal email: [email protected] Website: kentimmerman.com |
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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.
