The following transcript is from here. [My comments in red]
[Pre-transcript: Trump repeats his dubious claim that a Russia invasion wouldn't have happened on his watch. Let's point out that Trump and Putin had differences in foreign policy, e.g., Syria, and Trump had signed Ukraine foreign aid into law. I think Putin found Trump's unhappiness with NATO partners not paying their fair share useful. I don't think Trump would have supported Ukraine in NATO, but Putin intervened in 2014 after the pro-Russian President was toppled and Russia was unhappy with the status of the heavily Russian separatist east provinces; Trump really didn't address those concerns. Even now, Trump is threatening Russia with economic sanctions for not agreeing to his ceasefire proposal. Given Putin intervened in 2014 while Obama was POTUS, am I surprised he intervened against Biden? No. But one could argue that Trump's acceptance of Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, his ambivalence over NATO, and his 2019 freezing of Ukraine aid exposed weaknesses Putin could exploit..
Let me add some unrelated discussion here because I had to listen to the pre-transcript discussion I'm used to his embellishing his record and it is annoying as hell, not to mention the incessant Biden bashing. The nonstop hype is tiresome. I don't know why he felt the need to brag about his reelection, not that impressive compared to Reagan, Clinton or Obama. Nor did I think his implicit finger pointing in the face of Zelensky at Ukraine for repelling Russian invaders was helpful.]
The transcript picks up in the 38th minute of the video above
Reporter: Poland was under Russian control for decades after the Second World War. When I was a kid, I looked at the United States not only as a most powerful country, richest country in the world, the country that has great music, great movies, great muscle cars, but also as a force for good. And now I'm talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself too much with Putin. What's your message for them?
Trump: Well, if I didn't align myself with both of them, you'd never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal? It doesn't work that way. I'm not aligned with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I'm aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with. You see, the hatred he's got for Putin that's very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He's got tremendous hatred, and I understand that, but I can't tell you the other side is exactly in love with you know him, either. So it's not a question of alignment. I have to I'm in line with the world. I want to get the thing said. I'm aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done. You want me to be tough? I could be tougher than any human being you've ever seen. I'd be so tough, but you're never going to get it done that way. So that's the way it goes. One more question.
COMMENT: This gaslighting is absurd. Only a handful of Russia and her closest allies objected to the UN resolution condemning Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Trump is hardly indifferent to the issue; he signed Ukraine aid into law, but Trump tried to use that funding to extort Zelensky into starting a politically damaging investigation of political rival Joe Biden, the basis for Trump's first impeachment:
The Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly criticized the Ukrainian leader on the US campaign trail...Trump, meanwhile, said on his Truth Social account that if he is not elected president, "that war will never end, and will phase into WORLD WAR III"....Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump has frequently repeated Moscow's talking points about the war. During September's presidential debate, he sidestepped a question on whether he wanted Ukraine to emerge victorious in the conflict...He has refused to elaborate when asked whether he believes Ukraine should cede territory to Russia as a means of ending the war.
Vance: I will respond to this. So look, for four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up the press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden of thumbing our chest and pretending that the President of the United States' words mattered more than the President of the United States' actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That's what President Trump's doing.
COMMENT: Vance is completely ignoring Zelensky's earlier explicitly mentioned point that Putin has already broken 25 negotiated ceasefif res. Trump is warning Ukraine failure to participate will result in a a cutoff of US aid. Scapegoating Biden is absurd; Biden initiated over 500 new sanctions against Russia and led western European ,opposition to the invasion.
Zelenskyy: Can I ask you?
Vance: Sure? Yeah.
Zelenskyy: He (Putin) occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, part of East and Crimea. So he occupied in 2014. so during a lot of years. So I not speaking about just President Obama, then President Trump, then President Obama, now President Trump, God bless now President Trump will stop him. But during 2015 nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people.
Trump: I was not here.
Zelenskyy: Yes. But during 2014 till 2022. The situation the same that people are been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we have conversations with him, a lot of conversation, many bilateral conversation, and we signed with him.. In 2019 I signed with him, the deal, I signed with him, Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him, gas contract. Gas contract, yes, but after that, he broke the ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn't exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn't do it. What kind of diplomacy JD you are speaking about? What do you mean?
COMMENT: Zelensky here is making reference to the Minsk agreements, between Russia's 2014-5 and 2022 invasions, largely focused over the status of the separatist/pro-Russian self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). which Russia recognized just prior to the 2022 invasion.
Vance: I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems, you should be thanking the president for trying to bring it into this.
Zelenskyy: Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see what problems we have?
Vance: I have been to.
Zelenskyy: Come once.
Vance: I've actually, I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people. You bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you've had problems bringing people in your military? and do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?
Zelenskyy: A lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean and but don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future
COMMENT: Vance's comments are disrespectful and offensive. Zelensky's country has been invaded without provocation by the war criminal Putin. What "diplomacy"? In fact, Trump promised he would end the war before .his inauguration, a broken promise like his vow Mexico would pay for his wall. Neither Trump nor Vance have demonstrated any knowledge of the details of negotiations between 2014-2022 preceding Russia's second invasion. Vance in fact as senator last year opposed additional aid to Ukraine and was quoted in 2022 "I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another." Trump is pretending to argue he is impartial while he has largely conceded Russian talking points, including the preposterous claim that Ukraine started the war. Let's also point out Trump didn't resolve the issues underlying the Minsk agreements during his first term with Russian soldiers (other than in conquered Crimea) on their own soil; why is Trump convinced he can resolve the issues with Russian soldiers now occupying Ukraine territory? The propaganda claim is not only absurd but hypocritical. Vance has opposed Ukraine aid for ideological/isolationist reasons and Trump is arguing Zelensky is opposed to diplomacy with Putin as if the Minsk agreements never happened. But also Vance has publicly opposed Ukraine support over alleged corruption, accounting for aid, inadequate manpower, etc. I see zero evidence that Zelensky is "attacking" the administration, maybe quibbling with their perceptions, not based on due diligence, and perhaps unrealistic expectations in dealing with Putin.
Zelenskyy: A lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean and but don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future.
Trump: You don't know that.
Zelenskyy: God bless, you will not have a war...
Trump: Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel, because you're in no position to dictate that exactly.
Zelenskyy: I am not telling you.. (inaudible) I am answering... question...
Trump: You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. We're going to feel very good.
Zelenskyy: You will feel influence...
Trump: You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed to be in a very bad position, and it happens to be....
Zelenskyy: From the very beginning of the war.. (inaudible)...
Trump: You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. with us, you start having problems right now.
Zelenskyy: I’m not playing cards...
Trump: You are playing cards. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people.
Zelenskyy: I am the president of.. (inaudible)
Trump: You're gambling with World War II. You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's back to you far more than a lot of people say they should..
COMMENT: This is the most undiplomatic, unprofessional behavior I've ever seen/heard from an American "President" from the Oval Office. Trump is incontrovertibly being unduly condescending. confrontational, argumentative and rude; at worse, Zelensky is disagreeing with certain Trump/Vance claims about the history of the conflict; nothing on Zelensky's part is badly toned. Trump's suggestion that Zelensky's exercise of national self-defense was risking WWIII is absurdly over the top, Ukraine and other former USSR satellites do not pose significant security threats to the larger, nuclear-armed Russia. Trump is absurdly dismissing Ukraine's resistance holding off 3 years of Russian aggression, including an early advance on Kyiv:
In 2025, the overall capacity of Ukraine’s defense industry is expected to reach a new high of $35 billion, up from just $1 billion at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion. While this capacity is not yet being fully utilized due to defense budget limitations, Ukraine now produces around one-third of all weapons, ammunition, and equipment used by the country’s armed forces. In critical areas such as drone production, the figure is now close to one hundred percent.
But, mire importantly, Trump's mishandling of the situation is unprecedented in modern diplomatic history. He is a horrendous host, letting a disagreement to spiral out of control, putting the rare earth material pact at risk, apparently to humiliate Zelensky on a global stage. A competent leader would have sidelined the conflict earlier
Vance: Have you said thank you?
Zelenskyy: A lot of times...
Vance: No, in this entire meeting?
Zelenskyy: Even today...
Vance: You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October, offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country.
Zelenskyy: Please, you think that, if you will speak very loudly about the war...
Trump: He is not speaking loudly, your country is in big trouble.
Zelenskyy: Can I answer?
Trump: No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.
Zelenskyy: I know...
Trump: You're not winning. You're not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay, because of us.
Zelenskyy: We are staying in our country, staying strong, from the very beginning of the war, we've been alone, and we are thankful. I said, thanks...
Trump: You haven't been alone...
Zelenskyy: I said thank you...
Trump: We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion we gave you military equipment.... if you didn't have our military equipment, if you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks...
Zelenskyy: In three days. I heard it from Putin in three days. This is something...
Trump: Maybe less...
Zelenskyy: in two weeks.. of course.
Trump: It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.
Vance: You said thank you.
Zelenskyy: I said.. (inaudible)...
Vance: Except that there are disagreements, and let's go litigate those disagreements, rather than trying to fight it out of the American media, when you're wrong, we know that you're wrong.
Trump: You see, 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. You have to be thankful you don't have the cards. You don't have the cards..
Zelenskyy: I am thankful...
Trump: You're buried there.
Zelenskyy: I can tell you again...
Trump: People are dying. You're running low on soldiers.
Zelenskyy: Listen...
Trump: You're running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, I don't want to ceasefire. I don't want to ceasefire. I want to go and I want this... Look, if you could get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop being killed...
Zelenskyy: Of course, we want to start the war, but I ...
Trump: You are saying you don't want to ceasefire. I want a ceasefire because you get a ceasefire faster than...
Zelenskyy: Ask our people about ceasefire. What they think... (inaudible)...
Trump: That wasn't with me, that was with a guy named Biden who was not a smart person.
Zelenskyy: It was your president...
Trump: That was with Obama who gave you sheets and I gave you javelins. Yes, I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets and Trump gave javelins, you got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don't have any cards.
COMMENT: The misconduct of Trump and Vance, who should never have been in the discussion to begin with, is embarrassing to me as American citizen. It was like a game of bad cop, worse cop. Trump is shaming a visiting head of state. He is lying about US aid:
Trump's claim is incorrect. While it is possible to arrive at varying totals using different ways to categorize or count the financial figures, none amounts to $350 billion. As of this writing, the United States had allocated nearly $183 billion for the response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the U.S. government's inspector general overseeing the situation. That amount includes more than just what the U.S. government directly sent to Ukraine — and only $83 billion had actually been paid out as of December 2024. Thus, we rate this claim false.
Kicking Zelensky out of the White House is wildly inappropriate and counterproductive. This Vance invented issue that Zelensky not being appreciative of US aid is preposterous and easily debunked.
