There were no七星灶s piled up, nor was there a copper kettle boiling over a river, but on August 18th, the White House witnessed a brilliant intellectual battle.
However, it must be said that in front of the Europeans, Trump was formidable and truly formidable.
The leaders of countries such as France, Germany, Italy, accompanied Ukrainian President Zelensky to the White House with two purposes:
1. To prevent Zelensky from further humiliation and accepting unacceptable conditions;
2. Europe wants to be at the table, and the table with major European interests cannot be without Europe.
But on the chessboard, only those who place their chips have the right to speak about gains and losses; for those who merely observe with anxiety, they are merely footnotes in someone else’s chessbook.
The Europeans came uninvited, but Trump had his own clever plan.
Originally, everyone thought that the seven European giants and Zelensky should meet with Trump together; however, the White House arranged for Trump to meet with Zelensky first, followed by a meeting with the seven leaders.
After all, on someone else’s turf, even if the seven giants have arrived in the United States, they can only wait in the White House.
The advantages of being the host have always been the most silent but heaviest weights at the negotiating table.
Without the support of European leaders and with the lesson of being kicked out six months ago, Zelensky appeared much more cautious and shy.
He even changed his clothing proactively; although it was not a suit and tie, he wore an additional coat, making him feel more formal.
唉, attire at diplomatic occasions is often a silent declaration of a weak country, wrapped in the vulnerability of dignity and the desire for survival.
Someone praised Zelensky: “You look great in this outfit!” Trump immediately “provoked”: “He’s the one who attacked you last time (without wearing a suit)”. Zelensky responded: “I remember, oh, you’re still wearing the same suit. I changed, but you didn’t…”
幽默 is an art. But in the game of the strong, humor is sometimes the only armor that the weak can wear. Behind the laughter are countless unspoken bitternesses and helplessnesses.
However, compared to the last time, the atmosphere at the White House meeting was significantly better this time. When greeting Zelensky at the White House gate, Trump even hooked his neck.
Perhaps having learned from the last lesson, Zelensky expressed gratitude to Trump from various angles.
Trump was pleased and decided: “If everything goes smoothly today, we will hold a trilateral meeting (between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine), and I believe that when we do so, there will be a great opportunity to end the war!” People could see a large map of Ukraine with Russian-occupied areas posted in the White House room, and Trump and Zelensky stopped to examine it.
Upon seeing this map, Zelensky must feel a mix of emotions.
Once all of it was Ukrainian land, but now, much of it cannot be recovered.
The lines on the map are congealed tears and lost lives; every re-drawing of the border is a record of national trauma and historical harsh judgment.
According to current information, Putin insists that Crimea is non-negotiable and entirely Russian; for the other four states in Eastern Ukraine, Ukraine must give up the remaining Donetsk and Luhansk lands in exchange for a ceasefire in Zaharove and Kherson, while Russia will return scattered land in other states it has occupied.
Trump tends to agree with Putin and is pressuring Ukraine to accept this.
Before this White House meeting, Trump had already applied pressure, stating that “Zelensky can almost immediately end the conflict with Russia if he is willing to do so. He (Zelensky) can also choose to continue fighting.”
Trump also claimed that Ukraine “cannot recover” Crimea or join NATO.
“Some things will never change!!!”
Both Europe and Ukraine were shocked. After three years of war, Trump intervened and Ukraine had to give up even more land.
This is also the main reason why the seven European powers came to the White House to support Zelensky.
In this world, where there is no comparison, there is no harm.
Just three days ago, at the Alaska meeting, American soldiers laid out a red carpet and Trump personally welcomed Putin at the airport; at the three-day White House meeting, seven European leaders came together, yet Trump didn’t even greet them at the door.
The hearts of the seven leaders must be cooling down.
But they came, so they have to meet.
This can be described as “setting up a long table to entertain 16 parties. All who come are guests, relying solely on a single mouth. Meeting with a smile, not thinking about it afterwards…”
Looking at the seating arrangement at the long table, Trump sits at the center, with Italian Prime Minister Meloni on his left and French President Macron on his right. On the side, there are German Chancellor Merz and UK Prime Minister Starmer.
Germany is Europe’s largest country, but its chancellor is really not favored by Trump.
However, Merz just can’t help himself and mentions the obvious.
He warned Trump in public: “I want to emphasize that a ceasefire should be reached before Zelensky and Putin meet. I cannot imagine holding another meeting without a ceasefire. Let’s try to pressure Russia… because these efforts are only credible with a ceasefire.”
Trump replied with one sentence: “In the six wars I have put down, there has never been a ceasefire.”
Merz, Merz, who are you?
The Europe and America have major differences on whether to stop the fire first or reach a peace agreement first.
Europe and Ukraine strongly advocate that a ceasefire must be achieved before discussing a peace agreement.
Trump also insisted on this point before the Alaska meeting, and he even publicly threatened that if Putin refused to stop the fire, the consequences would be serious.
However, when meeting with Putin, Trump’s principles seemed to disappear, and he even stated that Europe and Ukraine “agreed” that the best way was to directly reach a peace agreement because “ceasefire agreements often do not work.”
The Europeans were furious that Trump represented their views again.
Western media even commented that the biggest gift Trump gave to Putin was “more time to bully Ukraine.”
Merz’s face-to-face advice fell on deaf ears.
It was then the turn of the President of the European Commission, Von Der Leyen.
She told Trump that “we must ensure that every child (in Ukraine) goes home”, which should be one of our main goals…
Trump replied, “We are here for different purposes, but we reached the largest trade agreement in history a few weeks ago. Thank you.”
However, Trump clearly did not appreciate Von Der Leyen’s approach and deliberately mentioned the trade agreement reached between the United States and Europe – which Von Der Leyen was widely believed to have accepted an unequal treaty and was humiliated by Trump.
It must be said that Trump really has a way with dealing with Von Der Leyen.
What was the outcome of these two White House meetings?
Regardless, Trump announced that he had “won” again.
According to the information he disclosed on social media at the first time: he had a “friendly meeting” with the guests, “everyone is very happy about the prospect of peace between Russia and Ukraine”, and a trilateral meeting between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine will be held next.
Is everyone “very happy”?
Regardless, that’s what Trump said.
There was also a small插曲.
According to Western media reports, during the meeting, Trump suddenly left his guests to make a phone call to Putin, presumably to inform him of the situation and plan the trilateral meeting.
First, in front of Europeans, Trump is quite skilled.
Merz was rejected, and Von Der Leyen was left out.
At the White House, he reminded Trump that “as a follow-up action, we may need a quadrilateral meeting. Because when we talk about security guarantees, we are talking about the entire security of the European continent.”
It should be a trilateral negotiation among the United States, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, and Europe should be at the negotiating table.
However, according to Trump’s announcement at the end, it was still a trilateral negotiation.
Macron’s words simply did not work.
Second, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has indeed reached a turning point.
Due to an unmuted microphone, people heard Trump whisper to Macron, “I think he (Putin) wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a trade for me, do you understand? It sounds crazy.”
One outcome that Trump did not mention is that the land belongs to Russia, the resources belong to the United States, the debt belongs to the European Union, and the glory belongs to Ukraine!
To the relief of Europeans, Trump suggested that he would provide security guarantees to Ukraine together with Europe.
If he accepts the cession of land, he will be a national criminal; if he refuses to compromise, Trump will definitely deal with him.
The fate of leaders of small countries often involves the pain of撕裂 between national righteousness and survival reality.
Third, Zelensky also reminded Trump.
Of course, Trump is also aggrieved.
Before this White House meeting, he sent multiple tweets, one of which said: “I fully believe that if Russia raises their hands and says, ‘We give up, we yield, we surrender, and we will give Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and everything within a thousand miles to Ukraine and the greatest country in the world – the most respected, most powerful country of all,’ then the fake news media and their Democratic partners will say it’s a bad and humiliating day for Trump, the worst day in our country’s history…”
In Trump’s view, he has mediated a peace agreement, which is a great thing; but the American media is too snobbish and actually criticized him for being too weak and bowing to Putin.
Trump is so dissatisfied that he cannot help but破口大骂.
Another detail is that Zelensky was asked on site: “Why don’t you hold elections?”
Zelensky replied that it is impossible to hold fair elections during wartime…
Trump interrupted: “If we happen to have a war with someone within three and a half years, we won’t hold elections? Oh, that’s good!”
Because three and a half years later, Trump’s four-year term will end, and according to the U.S. Constitution, he will not be able to run again. But if a war breaks out, is it a new idea?
But in this world, the boundaries of power and the resilience of rules are always subjected to the harshest tests during crisis times; a joke sometimes reflects the dark possibilities hidden deep within the system.
Many things can be achieved that we never thought possible.