Photo CNN

As the Days Without National Shame Count remains steadfast at 0, 2 schoolyard bullies masquerading as president and vice president of the United States, ambushed their guest, a president of a valiant country at war. It was planned, it was a staged, it was National Inquirer level reality TV aimed at making Tr*mp and J.D. seem tough to the Make America Go Away braindead watching Fox, Newsmax, OAN and Russian State Media.

In less colorful language, it was just incredibly rude, sophomoric behavior.  Zelinsky is worldly, he knew he had to pay homage the Orange ego and to a lesser extent, to the Yale Hillbilly.  Zelinsky was ready to sign a transactional agreement, the only kind Tr*mp understands, to keep his country in the fight. What he did not know, nor did anyone else except the bully brothers, was that he was walking into a trap, a shocking manipulation of protocol and American history.  It was more than a new low in the oxymoron that is now American diplomacy, it was premediated backstabbing of the Ukrainian people and their tremendous sacrifices during the past 3 years of Russian atrocities.  It was theater, it was The Apprentice: World Leaders Version and it was yet another big show by an insecure, weak man that 77,000,000 Americans rotely voted for last November.  And it showed, again, a complete lack of understanding of how American security is premised as much on soft power, the rule of law and shared western values as it is on America’s unmatched military might.

Zelinsky, not cowering as expected, keeping his comments respectful but admirably refuting the lies and attacks, stood up for his country and pushed back with facts.  The King and his Jester were not about to listen to that, so the meeting ended with a snide but revealing comment “This is going to be great television”.  That is all it is to this president, a TV show with him as the star, firing people and world leaders at will because it makes him feel powerful.  And oh yea, no lunch for you Z. But more concerning is the incompetence and lack of intelligence of this administration in how to deal with allies, and how that is fundamentally different than dealing with autocrats, dictators and our enemies.  Not. The. Same. This is the rules-based world order being deconstructed, not a condo deal in Manhattan using daddy’s money and cheating your subcontractors.

No doubt the intellectually flatlined MAGA maniacs saw this all completely differently.  They saw it as it was intended to be seen, a victory by their very own strongman, standing up for America First.  The reality is that America does not even factor into the mindset of Tr*mp except as a tool to manipulate the base.  It is all about Tr*mp and everything, everything about him is all about money and power, America be damned.