The Oval Office has seen its fair share of drama over the decades. But even in a room where history has been made, deals have been struck, and crises have been navigated, the spectacle that unfolded between Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Volodymyr Zelensky, Feb. 28, 2025, deserves its own tragicomic chapter.
Trump’s attempt to mob Zelensky into submission blew up in his face, dragging JD Vance down with him. And while America was gearing up to demand the heads of Trump and Vance on a platter, Marco Rubio somehow managed to stumble into the spotlight, earning himself the ire of a nation that wasn’t even thinking about him five minutes ago. And to be fair, if Rubio’s goal was to remind everyone he exists, mission accomplished. It’s just a shame that the only thing people seem to remember about him is why they stopped taking him seriously in the first place.
As the Secretary of State — in theory, the nation’s top diplomat — Rubio decided the best way to handle the fallout was to publicly scold Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The man whose country is being torn apart by a brutal Russian invasion was told by the U.S. Secretary of State to apologize. For what, you ask? Well, according to Rubio, Zelensky was “antagonistic” and turned Friday’s meeting into a “fiasco.”
Rubio’s logic — if you can call it that — seemed to boil down to this: Zelensky didn’t grovel enough. He wasn’t deferential enough. He didn’t play ball with Trump’s “deal-making” theatrics. In other words, he failed to recognize that diplomacy, in the Trump era, isn’t about principles or alliances; it’s about stroking the egos of men who think global politics operates like Shark Tank.
Rubio went on to question whether Zelensky even wants peace in Ukraine. “Maybe he doesn’t,” he mused. This kind of rhetoric is deeply irresponsible. It suggests that the U.S. government, or at least its current leadership, is less interested in supporting Ukraine and more interested in finding excuses to shift blame onto its leaders.
Naturally, his attempt to justify Trump’s bullying was pure facepalm material. One X (formerly Twitter) user summed it up perfectly:
Other users echoed similar sentiments:
Even Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republicans willing to call out Trump’s antics, couldn’t resist taking a jab.
If there’s one bright spot in this whole debacle, it’s Zelensky’s refusal to be cowed. He called out Putin’s consistent pattern of violating diplomatic agreements and made it clear that Ukraine’s fight is not just for its own sovereignty but for the principles of democracy and international law. When Trump and Vance tried to perpetuate Kremlin propaganda — suggesting that Russia’s invasion was somehow provoked by Ukraine or enabled by U.S. weakness — Zelensky calmly but firmly set the record straight.
For decades, the U.S. has been the backbone of the Atlantic Alliance, a leader in the fight to defend democracy and deter authoritarianism. But under Trump, that role has been abandoned in favor of cozying up to dictators and tearing down alliances. For European allies, the implications are clear. If the U.S. won’t stand with Ukraine, it’s time for Europe to step up and take the lead.
Published: Mar 1, 2025 02:12 pm