When I read a situation wrong, I am the first person to admit it, and it looks like my take on the European Union's (EU) posturing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was about as wrong as it gets.
I really thought EU leadership showing up at the White House would have Trump in an attack posture, but that was not the case at all.
Trump came out of the meeting appearing very positive, noting that he would be talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin again soon to try to work out a deal.
Trump has always handled Putin rather well. He offers him flattery in the press and is very cordial with him in person.
This has created a narrative in the media and among Democrats that Trump is being played by Putin, but I don’t think that is the case at all. This is Trump being a businessman, reading his opponent, and doing whatever it takes to get his way.
Trump made a rather curious announcement after meeting with Putin on Friday in Alasak that has me believing that the president has demands of his Russian counterpart that he believes are doable and can end this war rather quickly, opting to skip a ceasefire and go directly to a peace agreement.
The commander in chief stated, "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."
When Zelensky arrived in D.C. today, he was surrounded by several EU leaders, purportedly to put pressure on Trump.
The EU leadership that attended the meeting included Chancellor Frederich Merz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, President Alexander Stubb of Finland, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
My guess is that they wanted to make sure, at the very least, that Trump would not cut all military aid to Ukraine if he could not get Zelensky to make some concessions to get a peace deal in place.
The last time Zelensky came to town, the meeting blew up on national TV, and Zelensky was a thread away from getting nothing from the United States.
Zelensky took some notes from his last meeting, choosing to show up in a black suit rather than his usual garb, a fact that was noted by numerous members of the press.
European leaders made it clear that they wanted to offer protection for Ukraine since there is no way Zelensky will secure NATO membership, and Trump explained, "Europe wants to give protections. They feel very strongly about it, and we'll help them out with that. I think it's very important to get the deal."
Trump also seemed hopeful that the leaders would soon schedule a tri-lateral meeting in which they could hammer out a peace deal, stating, "If we don't have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance ... of maybe ending it, but he's expecting my call when we're finished with this meeting."
It looks like I read this all wrong in my last report, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet. Putin has a clear idea of what he wants in order to settle the war, and Zelensky will need to swallow his pride a bit if he wants to end the conflict. Having said that, if Ukraine gets Article 5-like protections, it would be a monumental win, and possibly worth some land in exchange. The sad reality of this, however, is that if Ukraine gives up any land to get this deal, Democrats will say that Putin took advantage of Trump, and the media will immediately push that narrative. I would wait to see what Zelensky says, however, before rating the deal a success or failure.
