I wasn’t sure how I felt about the news reports showing President Trump, Vice-President Vance, and several others meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky. I couldn’t help but feel there might have been some “sour grapes” in respect to Zelensky’s failure to express gratitude and be thankful for the support given to Ukraine by the United States.
The Ukrainian President is hesitant about signing an agreement with Russia that might lead to ending the war in Ukraine with Russia. I understand Zelensky’s hesitation – after all, it’s his people who will lose if Russia doesn’t honor the agreement.
President Trump repeated the phrase, “You don’t have the cards,” several times during their conversation, and I wondered if the Ukrainian President understood what President Trump meant when he said those words. I couldn’t help but feel Zelensky was left confused by the statement.
A part of me felt sorry for Zelensky because it felt like he was being bullied and was being forced into signing an agreement that didn’t appear to have any guarantees.
On the flip side, I’ve always wondered why the United States seems to be the country dedicating the bulk of the funds, equipment, and manpower to other countries involved in a war, and I understand President Trump’s desire to recover something of value for our generosity. In this case, Ukraine is being asked to provide billions of dollars worth of minerals in exchange for what the United States has provided (and probably will continue to provide) to Ukraine to aid the defense of their country.
It was interesting that the very same evening of the harsh discussion in the White House, other countries stood up to pledge their support to Ukraine. Maybe that’s what President Trump was trying to accomplish. (?)
Something I think we’ll all have to get used to over the next several years is that our President doesn’t waste time, and he doesn’t mince words. Another thing we might need to be patient with is that President Trump has his ideas on how to “make America great again,” and he has his way of getting things done in that regard.
As I drove past a gas station this past week, I noticed a sign that the station had regular gas for $2.79/gallon. It’s been a long time since gasoline sold for that low of a price, so maybe things are starting to work. There’s a long way to go when butter is nearly $8.00 a pound, and I haven’t purchased a steak for grilling in a long time because I can’t see spending $60 for the meat I have to prepare for one meal.
Have A Good Week!
