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‘Great television, I will say that’
March 04, 2025
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The mano-a-mano between the President of the United States and the President of Ukraine was more like the pre-match theatrics of WrestleMania than a diplomatic ceremony. But I suppose that with Alpha males in front of a camera arguing over US$350 billion (according to Trump), the outcome was unsurprising.
“What do you think? Great television. I will say that,” said Mr Trump as the clash faded away.
But are chest-thumping and head-butting the way diplomacy should be conducted when millions of lives and the geopolitical future of Europe is at stake? Are they consistent with the human dignity which the US has always championed?
What the world saw was diplomacy by humiliation and bullying. It was WrestleMania in the Oval Office. Vice-President Vance kept insisting like a peevish kindergarten teacher: “Just say thank you”, “Have you said ‘thank you’ once this entire time?”
Some American pundits were cheering when The Orange Man body-splashed Z the Destroyer and The Ohio Hillbilly executed a perfect piledriver. “I have never been more proud of the president,” said Senator Lindsey Graham. A conga line of politicians and journalists sang the same tune.
True, Zelensky should have been smarter. His job was to sign an agreement and he left without it. Epic fail.
It's hard to say how much damage President Zelensky has done to his brave country’s war effort. Perhaps he’ll learn how to eat humble pie and learn how to genuflect before a President who has been inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Speaking on Fox News, retired General Jack Keane compared Zelensky to Lincoln, as a leader who had bravely brought his country through three years of agony. But, but … “He should have understood going into the Oval Office today that when the cameras are on … the only answer to the questions should be, from Zelensky’s point, ‘Thank you, Mr President. Thank you, America. I’m going to work with you to achieve a peaceful end to this war.’ Period. He must say that five, six, seven times in different words.”
In other words, Zelensky was expected to perform the full kowtow before the Emperor -- "three kneelings and nine knockings of the head on the ground". I wonder if Americans appreciate how horrified the rest of the world was by the bullying, pettiness, and arrogance displayed by the President and Vice-President in the Oval Office.
Reports surfaced that the White House believed that Zelensky had been disrespectful because he had refused to wear a conventional suit. Why? His military garb is a symbol of his embattled country, one which he has been wearing proudly since Russia invaded. The White House didn’t demand that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wear a suit. Louis XVI didn’t demand that Benjamin Franklin wear silk stockings and a perfumed wig when he came begging in 1776 for French weapons and aid to win the American Revolution.
The most worrying thing about last Friday’s incident was that US withdrawal of support could deliver Ukraine to an aggressive, expansionist, and unscrupulous Russia.
But the second most worrying thing is that Trump’s White House is taking on the trappings of an imperial palace, issuing edicts and summoning the leaders of tribute states to make their ritual obeisance.
“What we witnessed in the Oval Office today was an American President putting America first,” said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. What the rest of the world witnessed was something altogether different. It was an American president putting America first by headlocking the president of a small and needy nation and bashing him till the blood flowed while his courtiers applauded. If that is what MAGA stands for, it’s nothing to be proud of. Benjamin Franklin would have puked.
What did you think of Zelensky’s failed mission?
Michael Cook is editor of Mercator.
Image credit: screenshot / The Australian
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mrscracker commented 2025-03-04 23:43:14 +1100If the choice was between bad manners and WWIII I believe I’d choose bad manners.
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Juan Llor Baños commented 2025-03-04 23:35:30 +1100I think that the analysis of this article is not very fortunate. The intentions and attitudes of Trump and Vice President Vance are judged with animosity, leaving aside the intentions of Zeleskin, who may certainly be playing with thousands of lives if he rejects outright any approach to any peace initiative. What does Zeleskin have better to offer Ukraine than peace, even if it is not in his full agreement? What does Zelesensky have to offer better? So, who was the rude one?
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Anon Emouse commented 2025-03-04 22:52:36 +1100“Trump wants to pull his country back from the fiscal black hole created by successive administrations’ profligacy and cutting overseas military spending is a big part of this. "
This isn’t true, Tim – his proposed spending cuts are dwarfed by his proposed tax cuts. He doesn’t care about the financial black hole at all, as he’ll exacerbate the deficit. Further – if he really cared about overseas military spending, wouldn’t he cut aid to Israel as well? -
Anon Emouse commented 2025-03-04 22:48:54 +1100“In this case, it was not bullying in my opinion, it was a clash of “pride” on both sides of the camp.”
It was bullying. Trump and Vance lied about the start of the war. Further, denigrating Zelensky because of a lack of a suit? Did we see how Musk attended that cabinet meeting – also without a suit? Seems to me like Trump and Vance were looking for an excuse to go forward with a decision they already made -
Anon Emouse commented 2025-03-04 22:47:46 +1100“But the second most worrying thing is that Trump’s White House is taking on the trappings of an imperial palace, issuing edicts and summoning the leaders of tribute states to make their ritual obeisance.”
But hey, Michael – Mercatornet seemed to be ok with a Trump presidency instead of a Harris one. Are you happy with that decision, still? -
Tim Lee commented 2025-03-04 21:39:43 +1100In the long run, wars are not won by might but by right. To be sure, it is very rare for one side to be totally right and the other side totally wrong, but Russia is clearly wrong in invading Ukraine – as wrong as Germany was when it invaded Poland in 1939.
The US will no longer be the main police contingent in the global community at a time when a couple of crime bosses are threatening world peace. Trump wants to pull his country back from the fiscal black hole created by successive administrations’ profligacy and cutting overseas military spending is a big part of this. I can’t see how this will not end tragically and can only pray that it does not end in another world war. -
Robert J Curro commented 2025-03-04 18:24:47 +1100So you prefer the “Smile and Daggers in the back” type of diplomacy. I prefer the “tell me what you really think” diplomacy, and that’s what we got. It’s just that we plebs of the west have been conditioned to accepting the “put on shows” that our conniving politicians/diplomats perform for the media. In this case, it was not bullying in my opinion, it was a clash of “pride” on both sides of the camp. Unfortunately for Zelensky he held the cap, and Trump holds the cash! So maybe if Zelensky would have been a bit smarter/diplomatic then he would have walked away with the cash, instead he walked away “cap in hand!”
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mrscracker commented 2025-03-04 09:20:29 +1100I suspect that this wasn’t the first time diplomatic matters were handled in a similar way but it wasn’t caught on camera.
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