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https://x.com/jenniferjjacobs/status/1895598009699934673

🚨🚨 High-level Trump sources tell me the White House is now uncertain if they can get the Russians and Ukrainians to stop fighting because this episode with @ZelenskyyUa raised questions about whether he can move forward toward a peace deal. It also raises questions about whether US will pause aid to Ukraine. But Trump is NOT seeking regime change in Ukraine. No discussions about who in Ukraine might be a better leader than Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian officials have reached out this afternoon to senior White House officials desperate to get the deal back on track. But that will not happen today, I'm told. Trump is unwilling to talk to Zelenskyy further today.

When Rubio and Waltz went into the Roosevelt Room to ask Zelenskyy to leave, Rubio made it clear that any further engagements today would be counterproductive. Waltz told Zelenskyy he had made a tremendous mistake, and it was a grave disservice to Ukraine and to Americans, both.

No phone calls between Trump and Putin have been scheduled. But multiple European officials have called top Trump officials since Zelenskyy left asking how the minerals deal can be salvaged.

Trump fully intended to sign the minerals deal today. Two official binders were prepared -- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Ukrainian counterpart and the two presidents were going to sit at a conference table in the East Room and then trumpet their success at podiums.

But there were suspicions before Zelenskyy arrived today that it might fall apart. Because the Trump admin had been pushing for weeks for a minerals deal signing at the ministerial level, and Ukraine had refused. Zelenskyy wanted security guarantees.

US officials thought negotiations would be much harder with **Putin** so today have been been in disbelief that it has been Zelenskyy who has been more difficult, making maximalist demands, sources told me.

I call bollocks on that.

Are we now onto the “Starmer is to blame for inviting Trump for a state visit”?

Yesterday these same people were saying what a genius move it was.

These same people would have called Starmer a muppet for not offering it if he hadn’t.

As usual, Starmer derangement syndrome has completely fried the brains of several of our posters.

I think you will find that @Mexicanpete is very much one of the critics

I said the visit was an error. Where are your boys Johnson and Farage? Dickheads who of course attended Trump's inauguration.

Johnson and Farage are not my boys

Kemi Badenoch and most of the conservative front bench have come out 100% in support of Zelensky

Remember I am a conservative and vote conservative

Happy birthday, by the way. Will you squeeze an infinitesimal celebration between 23:59 and 00:01, or enjoy a whole day tomorrow? Either way, have a good one. Daffs are out as usual.

Impressed you remember my birthday non birthday this year and thank you

Legally it is microseconds after midnight tonight and as it happens the family will be round tomorrow when I will be 81

Johnson doesn’t give a toss about Ukraine.

That would be why he spends so much time there?

He supported Trump. You cannot have supported Trump in an election and back Ukraine. It’s as contradictory a position as a few users here hold.

Lots of people - lots of intelligent people - thought that Trump was going to be no worse for Ukraine than Biden.

Just a few days ago I posted that while Trump's Ukraine shakedown was unseemly, it was probably ultimately a good for Ukraine, as it put the US firmly in the Ukraine camp.

I now know I was wrong. I hope Johnson is also having second thoughts about President Trump.

Starmer not making a statement either way is the correct approach, let's let everyone cool down and then try again. Getting Trump to stick to his promise to keep sanctions on Russia for a extra year that he gave to Starmer is much more important to Ukraine (and Europe) than the feel good factor of picking a side right now.

If Starmer is seen to be moving away from Trump or disrespecting him then that promise goes out of the window so cooler heads are needed

What we need is to get Trump in the room with Zelenskyy here in the UK without that idiot Vance and with Rubio and other more sensible Republicans. We should ensure that Vance isn't invited to the state dinner, make sure Mandy is in the White House for the weeks leading up preparing the ground with Trump and we need to get firm commitments from all across Europe to fund a much larger proportion of Ukraine's support so that the monetary factor goes away for Trump (which really seems to be the big sticking point) even if it means the European countries writing long dated loans to Ukraine at favourable terms so that they can pay back a big portion of US cash support they've given.

Zelenskyy must be very confident that he is going to get massive support on Sunday. The man is incredibly brave but he is not an idiot and he is carrying his country on his back.

Trump screamed at him that he had no cards. His cutting reply was that he wasn’t playing cards. But I suspect that he had an Ace in his back pocket.

In which event it will be Trump that has overplayed his hand.

I hope you're right, David, but I saw a man who simply lost his cool amongst a den of fools.

Nothing Zelenskyy said was particularly rude or disrespectful. Anyone objective watching that press conference would have felt they witnessed a nasty case of bullying.

Everything that Trump and Vance said was both rude and disrespectful.