What we saw at the White House at the weekend was nothing short of vile. But we shouldn’t be surprised.

Watching it, I was blown away. But I wasn’t surprised. And I reckon that, despite all the talk coming from European countries since Saturday, I reckon that Ukraine’s president will realise he has no option but to give Trump what he wants.

But let’s go back to what happened in the Oval Office on Saturday.

And it wasn’t just Donald Trump and JD Vance. There was that clown reporter who asked Volodymyr Zelensky why he wasn’t wearing a suit.

As for Trump and Vance, though, I thought they were like a couple of parents losing their rag with one of the kids.

Have you said thank you? After all we've done for you, you can’t even say thank you.

Talk about cringe. Here were these two guys berating someone who doesn’t even have English as his first language.

And while I thought it was vile. And while I was blown away by it all. I still wasn’t surprised. 

Because what better way to tell European countries that they better get their head around the idea of giving more support for Ukraine’s war with Russia?

Trump’s been telling Europe this. At the weekend he was yelling it. And it seems to have worked. European countries are already making noises about standing firm with Ukraine.

But, as vice-president JD Vance said on Saturday - and this is the one thing I thought he was right on - he said you don’t win wars just thumping your chest. Actions win wars.

So I’ll give him that one. But it was kind of odd that, as soon as he’d said that, he started going on about diplomacy being the answer and when Zelensky asked him what he meant by diplomacy, the vice-president suddenly became very undiplomatic in front of the cameras.

And then Trump joined in and it was a shouting match. At one point Trump did an Andrew Bailey and touched Zelenskyy on the arm during their “animated discussion”.

The question now is, what will happen next?

My pick is that Zelensky, even though he must have felt completely under attack, will lick his wounds and he’ll be back at the White House. Mark my words.

Because, even though he knows Russia has form and that Russia could keep attacking Ukraine, even with the minerals deal in place, Zelensky knows that Europe has form too when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

He knows that European countries talk a lot, but their contribution to the war effort doesn't always match the talk.

So Ukraine still needs America. And Zelensky, if he hasn’t admitted it to himself already, he will eventually.

But Trump is still going to have to tread carefully. As a headline in the New York Times says: “Trump is rootin’ for Putin”.

And while he might think that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is a good guy, most Americans don’t.

But that won’t be enough to stop him. Because, as he said in the Oval Office on Saturday, he and Putin went through a lot together when there was all that talk about Russia interfering in the US elections.

And, as we know, that is one grudge the president will never let go of.

So even if Americans aren’t happy with their president being mates with Putin, he won’t care. 

Zelensky will realise that. And I think he’ll be back at the White House to sign that deal sooner rather than later.

What we saw at the White House at the weekend was nothing short of vile. But we shouldn’t be surprised.
Watching it, I was blown away. But I wasn’t surprised. And I reckon that, despite all the talk coming from European countries since Saturday, I reckon that Ukraine’s president will realise he has no option but to give Trump what he wants.
But let’s go back to what happened in the Oval Office on Saturday.
And it wasn’t just Donald Trump and JD Vance. There was that clown reporter who asked Volodymyr Zelensky why he wasn’t wearing a suit.
As for Trump and Vance, though, I thought they were like a couple of parents losing their rag with one of the kids.
Have you said thank you? After all we've done for you, you can’t even say thank you.
Talk about cringe. Here were these two guys berating someone who doesn’t even have English as his first language.
And while I thought it was vile. And while I was blown away by it all. I still wasn’t surprised.&nbsp;
Because what better way to tell European countries that they better get their head around the idea of giving more support for Ukraine’s war with Russia?
Trump’s been telling Europe this. At the weekend he was yelling it. And it seems to have worked. European countries are already making noises about standing firm with Ukraine.
But, as vice-president JD Vance said on Saturday - and this is the one thing I thought he was right on - he said you don’t win wars just thumping your chest. Actions win wars.
So I’ll give him that one. But it was kind of odd that, as soon as he’d said that, he started going on about diplomacy being the answer and when Zelensky asked him what he meant by diplomacy, the vice-president suddenly became very undiplomatic in front of the cameras.
And then Trump joined in and it was a shouting match. At one point Trump did an Andrew Bailey and touched Zelenskyy on the arm during their “animated discussion”.
The question now is, what will happen next?
My pick is that Zelensky, even though he must have felt completely under attack, will lick his wounds and he’ll be back at the White House. Mark my words.
Because, even though he knows Russia has form and that Russia could keep attacking Ukraine, even with the minerals deal in place, Zelensky knows that Europe has form too when it comes to supporting Ukraine.
He knows that European countries talk a lot, but their contribution to the war effort doesn't always match the talk.
So Ukraine still needs America. And Zelensky, if he hasn’t admitted it to himself already, he will eventually.
But Trump is still going to have to tread carefully. As a headline in the New York Times says: “Trump is rootin’ for Putin”.
And while he might think that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is a good guy, most Americans don’t.
But that won’t be enough to stop him. Because, as he said in the Oval Office on Saturday, he and Putin went through a lot together when there was all that talk about Russia interfering in the US elections.
And, as we know, that is one grudge the president will never let go of.
So even if Americans aren’t happy with their president being mates with Putin, he won’t care.&nbsp;
Zelensky will realise that. And I think he’ll be back at the White House to sign that deal sooner rather than later.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

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Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays. It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking. If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio. With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector. Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

John MacDonald: Zelensky will be back at the White House

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/d76670bd-55bf-4d1e-86b7-b2940182d96f/transcript