Common Sense

I think you and @hughhewitt and many others miss the point that it was inappropriate for Vance to chime in at all, never mind 40 minutes in. Whatever Vance’s motives may have been, this was scandalously incompetent diplomacy. This was supposed to be a pool spray not Firing Line. And if the WH actually wanted peace and a mineral deal so badly, they would not have allowed this shit show to unfold this way — if they were competent and/or if Trump allowed for competence to inconvenience him. I agree that for the first 38 minutes Trump was more or less fine (grading on a curve). But the fact a photo op was allowed to go that long is malpractice. That Vance opted to escalate rather than conclude the meeting is appalling — again, even if ascribe the best possible motives ( which I don’t). Last, Zelenskyy is a politician ,too. Under much greater pressure than Trump. A mature president and competent staff would understand that. Instead, Trump spent a half hour making it sound like Russia and Ukraine were morally equivalent in front of the Ukrainian president. That’s morally and intellectually AND POLITICALLY obtuse.