Color me confused.
I know the pro-Ukrainian lobby is deep and entrenched.
But, as word broke of the counter-resistance meeting that was held (David has a great write-up on it here) before the now legendary Oval Office smackdown between Trump, Vance, and a petulant Voldomyr Zelensky, the outrage has been focused on Democrats.
The meeting, according to Michael Goodwin at the NY Post, was planned to encourage Sweater Boy to reject Trump’s mineral deal and, basically, derail the peace process. In other words, United States senators were taking a direct, active role in deliberately circumventing the foreign policy initiatives of a duly elected administration by counseling the other party.
…Before meeting Trump, Zelensky met with anti-Trump Democrats who advised him to reject the terms of the mineral deal the president was offering, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
“Just finished a meeting with President Zelensky here in Washington. He confirmed that the Ukrainian people will not support a fake peace agreement where Putin gets everything he wants and there are no security arrangements for Ukraine,” Murphy’s office posted on X at 11:15 a.m. Friday.
He attached a picture of Zelensky at a conference table, with Murphy seated on the opposite side.
…The earlier meeting with Dems undercuts wild claims that Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance staged an ambush. In fact, it was Zelensky who came with an ulterior motive.
The purpose of the meeting was to sign the mineral agreement he and Trump representatives had negotiated. He had twice refused to sign it after promising to, and thanks to Murphy, we now know he had no intention of signing it Friday.
By listening to the nakedly partisan advice of Dems instead of dealing forthrightly with the current president, Zelensky betrayed his countrymen and, for now at least, leaves them without the military and diplomatic protection that only America can provide.
Murphy’s proud little moment of bragging about something bumps up against the Logan Act Dems are all too fond of trying to use on everyone else if only Murphy were merely a citizen.
But he’s an elected official – as were the other Dems in that room like Combover Klobuchar – working to do real damage to the administration’s peace negotiations.
Democrats.
Met with zelensky without Trump’s knowledge!
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
“Danang Dick” (Richard Blumenthal) (D-CT)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Peter Welch (D-VT)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD pic.twitter.com/P6LP7IoQMZ— Madeline Rivera (@Madelin41144812) March 1, 2025
Then I was like, hang on a minute, when I saw a photo of those smiling faces at the table with Zelensky and Murphy – isn’t that Chuck Grassley smack in the middle?
Why, yes – yes, it was.
An important visit to the United States. In Washington, I met with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate.
Our discussions focused on the continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just… pic.twitter.com/KJcosUpygc
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2025
Senator Grassley is sitting directly across the table from Zelensky, Gen Keith Kellogg is at the far end of the table, and other Republican attendees listed were Senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker.
If it was planned as seditious, why were Republicans there?
I believe Wicker is the white-haired fellow telling Zelensky in the above video that he basically has the assembled luminaries’ full and complete support before going into battle with Trump.
‘We’re here today as a show of support, we have committee chairs…’
I have yet to see a photo of Graham at the table, but he’s caught briefly shaking Zelensky’s hand in one video and news reports have confirmed he was there, gathered with others for the ‘encouraging‘ meeting.
Whatever that meant at the time.
A group of bipartisan senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning ahead of the tense exchange between the Ukrainian leader, President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Chris Coons, D-Del., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as well as other Democratic and Republican senators, gathered for an hourlong “encouraging” meeting with Zelenskyy ahead of his visit to the White House, the three lawmakers posted on their social media accounts.
Even Zelensky’s Xweet said it was bipartisan – what a suck-up greeting line. Klobuchar is near to swooning.
An important visit to the United States. In Washington, I met with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate.
Our discussions focused on the continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just… pic.twitter.com/KJcosUpygc
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2025
…Our discussions focused on the continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, our vision for ending the war, and the importance of robust security guarantees.
We take pride in having strategic partners and friends like the United States. We are grateful for the unwavering bicameral and bipartisan support for Ukraine throughout all three years of Russia’s full-scale aggression.
At what point did the meeting become openly subversive to the aims of the scheduled Oval Office greeting and presumed agreement signings with the White House?
Were Republicans still in the room?
There’s been a suggestion that Gen Kellogg was acting as sort of Trump’s fly-on-the-wall, which I can believe.
But Grassley has been a firm Ukraine booster, as has Graham.
Were they in on the ‘JUST SAY NO‘ chorus, too?
That’s a question for the ages because after the disgruntled dictator detonated so disastrously at Donald and JD, Graham and Kellogg came out swinging in full-throated support of the President and his Vice.
Mr. Secretary. Was honored to be with @POTUS, @VP, and you in the Oval today during the bi-lateral with President Zelensky. As the President has ALWAYS done-he stood for America….America First. The world saw it today in real time. https://t.co/5D0kirbEwK
— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) February 28, 2025
Graham says he’d talked to Zelensky that morning and told him ‘not to take the bait.’ Was he referring to Dems urgings to scuttle the deal? It sounds like it if you have time to listen to the whole couple of minutes. Graham is apoplectic with anger and frustration at Zelensky’s ego tanking a $500M-$1B deal that would have been ”transformative’ for the Ukrainian people. He said he told the Ukrainian president they would talk about security guarantees, etc. Graham explained this was a process and Zelensky now had a chance to solidify a new relationship with the United States.
And man, did he blow it.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM SLAMS ZELENSKY: “What I think? Complete utter disaster. What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful. I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again. He either needs to resign or he needs to change.”
pic.twitter.com/Up5DEBbDa4— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) February 28, 2025
I can’t find a peep from either Grassley or Wicker on the subject other than a reportedly deleted Xweet from Wicker which would seem to be supportive of the negotiations as they stood.
It appears that @SenatorWicker has deleted this tweet highlighting his meeting with Zelensky & a bipartisan group of senators this morning. pic.twitter.com/WXTNRl6TvU
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) February 28, 2025
Deleting it so swiftly afterward in the face of the disaster lends me to believe there might well have been some contrary urgings that he doesn’t want questions asked about.
Like ‘ What did you hear/say while you were there?‘
Obviously, he wasn’t there to warn Zelensky off but had to have been mortified to have been caught up in the machinations leading to the hullabaloo afterward.
I can’t imagine being called on the carpet and read the riot act by Trump – dear God.
Ted Cruz talks about the long plane ride home.
Notable from Cruz, who led an effort to push the Biden admin to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the months leading up to the war & kept voting for Ukraine aid even as Heritage & other conservatives were starting to oppose future aid packages https://t.co/7JIyD5Jt5y
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) March 2, 2025
‘…Every voter understood if you elect the Democrat, we keep pouring money into Ukraine, the war goes on and on and on, and we pour billions into it forever…I think it is important that this war ends in a way that is a clear and unmistakable loss for Russia, a loss for Putin…I gotta say, by the way, Zelenky’s performance was so bad, that I think it not only harmed his own country, I think it harmed world peace. And that’s, and that’s…I cannot imagine the plane flight back right now…‘
I don’t think Zelensky has the capacity for thoughtful plane rides.
🚨 JUST IN: Senator Lindsey Graham just fired back at Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Zelensky said if Graham wants him to resign, he can move to Ukraine for his voice to have “weight.”
GRAHAM: “Until there is an election, no one has a voice in Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/zdNojO65fL
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 2, 2025
It doesn’t pay to get in the weeds with Democrats, especially with Trump as president, whatever the purity of your motives.
You think they’d have learned by now.
Read the full article here
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