Did the US president turn the Oval office into a gladiator’s arena on purpose?
Did India’s godi-media anchors take over the Oval Office at the White House to run their gladiator arena show? It almost seemed so. Only much worse.
It wasn’t a run-of-the-mill Goswami or Navika lynching an unsuspecting gullible victim in full public glare at prime time. It was the President of United States, Donald Trump, and his deputy, J.D. Vance ambushing their guest – the war beleaguered Ukranian president, Volodymyr Zelenski.
The whole affair that lasted less than 50 minutes was probably the strangest thing one could have witnessed in international diplomacy. Was it official talks between heads of two states? Was it a press conference? It was everything rolled into one. The two sides – the ‘unsuited’ Zelensky and Trump with his entourage of aides – sat ironing out diplomatic differences as camera crews and journalists pounded them with questions. One doesn’t know if there is a precedent.
Normally diplomatic talks take place in closed door, deals are signed or joint statements prepared if they reach a consensus, followed by a press briefing. This was a case of putting the cart before the horse. The much-touted deal, giving the US rights over Ukraine’s minerals, that Trump had kept ready for Zelensky to sign on the dotted line had been postponed till after the circus.
Or was it never intended to happen?
Was there method in the madness the world saw. Almost 40 minutes of a fairly civil and cordial conversation with disagreements, followed by a sudden angst that first came from vice-president Vance and then it was free-for-all situation with Trump and Vance alternatively shouting down Zelensky, who relentlessly pushed back, and not letting him be heard.
Trump, Zelensky disagree on Putin’s role
During much of the time throughout the meeting, Trump and Zelensky agreed to disagree over Putin’s role, over a ceasefire with security guarantees, over the aid that had come from USA as opposed to Europe. But what was the final trigger?
Sample some of the bombastic phrases. Zelensky was accused of being disrespectful and “litigating” the situation in front of the American media. Who called the media? Certainly, Zelensky didn’t arrive with a press entourage, unlike another head of the state did recently.
Zelensky was even accused of not thanking the US president, though the former did start his conversation with a profuse note of appreciation. And finally, Trump called the whole deal off, blaming Zelensky for his “attitude”.
If anyone saw the entire drama (watch here) from the beginning to the end, one would notice whose “attitude” was more problematic.
In those 50 minutes, rather the last 10 minutes of it, hung the fate of Ukraine’s war and peace, and Zelensky’s victimhood and heroism. Was Zelensky a victim or did he emerge a hero? Even as the Trump-Vance lung power continue to badger him, he appeared unfazed and did not relent. He held his ground. Earlier in the meeting, he called out Trump’s lies several times.
Trump’s false claims on funds
Trump, who is trying to frame the Ukraine-Russia war within his domestic constituency as a major tax drain on the United States, has consistently parroted the same lies in public including in his meetings with other European heads of the state. He has repeatedly stated that US paid more aid ($350 billion) to Ukraine than the European countries, and while America has sent the aid in good faith, European countries will be repaid for it.
None of this including the amount of actual aid from the US – pegged at $119 billion – is true. British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and French president, Emmanuel Macron, called out these lies but it did not rankle Trump. Zelensky’s objections to the same set of lies did. Was it something to do with the power equations of these different countries?
Certainly, a bully will always pick up more on the weaker opponent. But there appears much more to why Trump and Vance tore into Zelensky like raging bulls. Trump who recently set out to rejig the world order by announcing to pull out support for Ukraine and cozying up to Vladimir Putin has positioned himself as a ‘neutral person’ trying to bring a ‘ceasefire’.
To questions about whether Russia which has broken such ceasefire pacts in the past can be trusted, Trump has repeatedly been evasive and unconvincing. “He will because I am saying so. Putin didn’t respect Obama and Biden but he trusts me,” inspires no confidence in a keen observer, much Zelensky, whose country would face the consequences should the ceasefire end up being a fragile one.
US eyeing deal on Ukraine’s minerals
The now dead deal between US and Ukraine would have given America rights to Ukraine’s minerals including uranium and lithium with no specific guarantees in turn for the sustenance of peace.
Was the peace ever the intended cause of the deal? Certainly, diplomacies are less about moral obligations and more about Realpolitik. But was the finalization of the deal not intended either?
Towards the end of that meeting, Trump says at one point, “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long.” Was the media called, and the tone of the conversation changed as per a rehearsed script? To what end?
Certainly, Trump wants to use the selected viral parts of the videos of this meeting to please his home constituency already high on white supremacy and jingoism. It is not known how his tango with Russia will pan out but certainly what happened in the Oval Office did not augur well for prospects of peace.
Trump may have had his way but the man of the day was Zelensky who may go back to the looming prospects of a continuing or a worsening war but he also emerged as the man who stood up to a bully.
Sullen faced Narendra Modi
One can’t help comparing this image with a sullen faced Narendra Modi in the same office a couple of weeks ago. Ever since his recent visit to the United States, Prime Minister Modi has been criticised at home for allowing himself to be bullied by Trump into agreeing to buy costlier jets and energy from United States and failing to protect the nation’s honour by remaining mum over illegal Indian immigrants being deported from the US with handcuffs, shackles and stuffed into defence aircrafts like chained animals.
At home, while still silent on the outrageous images of the ill-treatment of Indian citizens, Modi government is trying to peddle the narrative of the great partnership with Trump. If nothing else, his own body language, during his US visit including the press conference that was forced on him speaks to the contrary. Missing were the ear to ear smiles and the repeated bear hugs that have become his signature gestures while meeting any foreign dignitary.
Unlike Zelensky, was the Mr 56-inch chest bullied by a bigger bully?
Content retrieved from: https://kashmirtimes.com/marginalia/trump-zelensky-and-the-godi-media.