First, Trump had been in contact with Putin, negotiating Ukraine, BEFORE and WITHOUT Zelensky, our ally. Very insulting and not how you negotiate peace.
Second, Trump called Zelensky, the respected, President of a DEMOCRACY with 75% of the votes, a “dictator!” Saying he wasn’t having free elections! He also said Ukraine can’t join NATO. Sounds like Putin’s demands. Another insult.
Third, Trump (I won’t call him president because of the illegally purged black votes & hacked tabulators Harris is the true president!) announced Ukraine “started the war.” Either Trump has severe dementia or he is stupid; both a possibility. It was Russia who invaded Ukraine, REPEATEDLY. THEY are the AGGRESSORS!
Fourth, just arriving at the White House from a ravaged warn torn country, dignified President Zelensky is immediately criticized by Trump for what he was wearing! Musk, the richest man in the world, wears t-shirts & baseball caps & emphasizes his disrespect by bringing his 3 year old son to the oval office who then proceeds to pick the buggars out of his nose, putting them on the Lincoln desk.
With Trump’s prior insulting comments (lies) made about him, insulting him by not meeting with Zelensky FIRST, but meeting with the war criminal dictator & aggressor Putin, that’s enough to make anyone upset. Trump & Vance had NO excuse.
Fourth, THINK of what Zelensky went through to just to get to the White House from a ravaged country of 3 years. No airports. Helicopters, long train rides, etc. It probably took an entire day. He didn’t even get lunch after struggling to get there from a war zone. (He probably arrived hungry thinking they would provide lunch after he came that great distance. Is that any way to treat a guest?).
Fifth, we SIGNED a commitment in 1994 - the “Budapest Memorandum” along with the UK, Northern Ireland and Russia! Why isn’t anyone talking about this??
In 1994 Ukraine ONLY agreed to hand over their HUGE STASH of nuclear weapons to Russia 'in exchange for a guarantee never to be threatened or invaded.' And to be protected if such an invasion occurred.
***If Ukrainian had KEPT those nuclear warheads, and they should have, Russia would never have dared to invade, EVER!•••
Ukraine was the ONLY country that honored this agreement.
Obviously, Russia, the invader, did NOT keep the commitment, but the United States MUST.
Perhaps Trump, being the non reader, poor student he was, doesn’t know about this commitment. But no wonder Zelensky doesn’t trust Russia to keep another agreement! Who should? Like Trump, Putin LIES and CHEATS and has repeatedly shown HIS WORD IS NOT GOOD!
Russia broke the agreement so they have NO bargaining power. This is what should happen:
1. Russia should return ALL of Ukraine’s land.
2. Russia should return ALL of the stockpile of nuclear warheads Ukraine gave Russia since they broke the agreement or better replace with new.
3. Russia should pay to rebuild Ukraine.
4. No other country is asking to be reimbursed. The United States did NOT give Ukraine $350 billion. That is another Trump LIE. We gave them ILD war equipment & we bough new to replace them.
5. The United States should not get anything from Ukraine - NO MINERALS. The United States did nothing when Russia took Crimea & Georgia. If they had, this total devastation & loss of lives would not have occurred. The United States, UK , N. Ireland did not come to Ukraine’s rescue when Russia invaded. All four countries broke the agreement.
6. Since neither the U.S., UK, N.Ireland nor Russia held to the agreement, Ukraine SHOULD be allowed to join NATO. They earned it. That will assure no future invasions of their county.
By agreeing to these terms along with staying out of our elections, Putin is getting off lightly because Putin is now a war criminal and should really be sentenced to death. He did irreparable harm to babies, raping women, kidnapping children, bombing hospitals, etc. Not to mention the devastation of people’s homes, the infrastructure, loss of lives, the emotional and physical trauma, etc.
DON’T GIVE IN! The ball is in your court. Russia is sweating.
Sincerely,
A very SHOCKED, ASHAMED and HORRIFIED American citizen. I apologize, respect and support you. We all agree, we would prefer it if you were our President!
“This Memorandum will become applicable upon signature. Signed in four copies having an equal validity in the Ukrainian, English, and Russian languages.”
I used these very words about Trump being tried for treason as an enemy of the
United States, making deals with Putin, without the knowledge of congress or the American People. We should not have to wait 2 yrs until the next election to see if the Democrats win seats in Congress, as our Democracy is being destroyed by Trump and his sidekick, his Rasputin Musk. In two years he will have taken control of every government agency we hold dear, and our military. Shame on us for. not remembering history of the past dictators and letting this inept politician getting away with rising to power.
I agree with you. I believe there may be enough outraged citizens that are contacting their Representatives and Senators along with the shocking realization Trump is firing everyone and anyone who could discover any corruption hold him accountable . He and Vance are siding with our enemies (Russia). At the very least they should be impeached. In reality, tried for treason.
A good example is Mussolini who was caught trying to escape Italy into Switzerland at the end of WWII with his girlfriend. He was striped, beaten nearly unrecognizable, shot to death,and hung by his heels from a bean over a gas station and hiscfrad body later paraded through Italy.
They also killed a bunch of fascist with him. They took the bodies to the city Square, where the same fascist marched and displayed killed Italian partisans. Towns people from all over came to the square for Retribution. One mother shot Mussolini’s dead body 5 times. One bullet for each of her murdered sons. After that, the string him up by his ankles above a gas station outside of town.
Thanks for the compliment. I have such rage, it compels me. I am at a point, like those in WWII, I would give my life for my country.
My dad’s eye operation (strabismus) provided for by Henry Ford enabled him to enlist in WWII. Trump, who ran away from serving our country would consider my dad, an officer, a “loser” as he lost partial hearing from the loud sounds. Glad he is not alive to witness this nightmare. (My dad became a family doctor and sent his strabismus patients to that same eye surgeon).
Zelensky has always lavished thanks on the US - Vance should check out the first 5 mins of Zelensky speech to a joint meeting of Congress on 22 Dec 2022. What can be a greater thanks than that!
This can only get worse, although switching sides in the middle of a war is pretty bad. But Trump seems to have lost all boundaries, and his rage boils just under the surface. We have lost our bearings, and the country will be paying the price long after Trump is dead.
Earlier I stated that without any evidence I felt that Trump appeared to be a Russian agent. Now after Trump's meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office I more strongly feel Trump is a Russian agent, Again, I have no proof.
Liz Cheney’s quote was a good place to end this letter. Democrats alone cannot free us from this scourge. We need Republicans Independents as well to join in this. Liz Cheney could rise up. There are many others. This cannot continue without strong political opposition. Street demonstrations are needed ongoing as well.
We need good Americans to rise up. Thank you Liz for what you diz, whoops, meant did, but you continue to partition us. We are Americans in a democracy, we want everyone to thrive, excel, accomplish, prosper and live.
I’ll say this til I’m blue in the face - if you look at some of the Facebook accounts that are just random large Trump MAGA accounts - They see these things as victories and they want to see Zelensky fail. We as normal people obviously see what Heather‘s talking about BUT there are millions upon millions upon millions upon millions upon millions of people who see a completely different reality and side with Trump and Putin.
I was moved to renew my subscription after watching Dr. Richardson's daily missives which chronicle history. I have lived 3/4's of a century and change including tours of battle grounds from the revolutionary war, the civil war and the wars on the Aboriginal Peoples. I am clearly angered by a draft-dodger who has been convicted for 34 felonies, and who wants to destroy my VA healthcare that I earned by going to Vietnam and that healthcare of my brother and sister veterans who served. To watch President Zelensky be humiliated by a leader who stated "his Vietnam was avoiding STD'S" was insulting. Zelensky who has met the Russian attacks head-onto be insulted by two ignoramuses who want to kiss Putin's ring and who have sullied the memories of Americans over two and a half centuries was galling.
Every American who cares about this country should understand the destruction of our democracy is being plotted by the TRUMPERS.
Thank you Ms Richardson for this excellent summary of yesterday’s disgraceful treatment of OUR ALLY PRESIDENT ZELENSKY by donald trump and j d vance. This is a serious black eye on US Diplomacy. It is time to consider IMPEACHMENT before putin has DJT in his pocket and we are all truly screwed! The whole bunch of MAGA appointees need to find new jobs!
Trump and Vance thought they had Zelensky over a barrel, that he would have to take the deal they were trying to force on him, making him an offer he couldn't refuse, in true mobster style.
But he did refuse it.
Vance had the nerve to upbraid Zelensky for responding to Trump in front of the cameras, yet it seems he thought it was fine for Trump to trash talk Biden and Obama on camera, and apparently condoning Trump's continuing with his unhinged tirade for public consumption. Good television, indeed.
An orange bully doesn’t get this flustered unless he is afraid Putin is going to defenestrate them. And the HillBully elegy petard was feckless. The only thing he proved was his fingers are longer than Trump’s. BTW, when have those two clowns been in the same room? Where was the F-Elon? Don’t they realize the circus (with animals) was outlawed long ago?
Thank you so much for laying it out so clearly and answering the Trump GIP narrative of these recent events. We are all behind you and are very concerned. Some of us are afraid but still speaking out ourselves on our social media feeds.
How can I get this to President Zelensky?
First, Trump had been in contact with Putin, negotiating Ukraine, BEFORE and WITHOUT Zelensky, our ally. Very insulting and not how you negotiate peace.
Second, Trump called Zelensky, the respected, President of a DEMOCRACY with 75% of the votes, a “dictator!” Saying he wasn’t having free elections! He also said Ukraine can’t join NATO. Sounds like Putin’s demands. Another insult.
Third, Trump (I won’t call him president because of the illegally purged black votes & hacked tabulators Harris is the true president!) announced Ukraine “started the war.” Either Trump has severe dementia or he is stupid; both a possibility. It was Russia who invaded Ukraine, REPEATEDLY. THEY are the AGGRESSORS!
Fourth, just arriving at the White House from a ravaged warn torn country, dignified President Zelensky is immediately criticized by Trump for what he was wearing! Musk, the richest man in the world, wears t-shirts & baseball caps & emphasizes his disrespect by bringing his 3 year old son to the oval office who then proceeds to pick the buggars out of his nose, putting them on the Lincoln desk.
With Trump’s prior insulting comments (lies) made about him, insulting him by not meeting with Zelensky FIRST, but meeting with the war criminal dictator & aggressor Putin, that’s enough to make anyone upset. Trump & Vance had NO excuse.
Fourth, THINK of what Zelensky went through to just to get to the White House from a ravaged country of 3 years. No airports. Helicopters, long train rides, etc. It probably took an entire day. He didn’t even get lunch after struggling to get there from a war zone. (He probably arrived hungry thinking they would provide lunch after he came that great distance. Is that any way to treat a guest?).
Fifth, we SIGNED a commitment in 1994 - the “Budapest Memorandum” along with the UK, Northern Ireland and Russia! Why isn’t anyone talking about this??
In 1994 Ukraine ONLY agreed to hand over their HUGE STASH of nuclear weapons to Russia 'in exchange for a guarantee never to be threatened or invaded.' And to be protected if such an invasion occurred.
***If Ukrainian had KEPT those nuclear warheads, and they should have, Russia would never have dared to invade, EVER!•••
Ukraine was the ONLY country that honored this agreement.
Obviously, Russia, the invader, did NOT keep the commitment, but the United States MUST.
Perhaps Trump, being the non reader, poor student he was, doesn’t know about this commitment. But no wonder Zelensky doesn’t trust Russia to keep another agreement! Who should? Like Trump, Putin LIES and CHEATS and has repeatedly shown HIS WORD IS NOT GOOD!
Russia broke the agreement so they have NO bargaining power. This is what should happen:
1. Russia should return ALL of Ukraine’s land.
2. Russia should return ALL of the stockpile of nuclear warheads Ukraine gave Russia since they broke the agreement or better replace with new.
3. Russia should pay to rebuild Ukraine.
4. No other country is asking to be reimbursed. The United States did NOT give Ukraine $350 billion. That is another Trump LIE. We gave them ILD war equipment & we bough new to replace them.
5. The United States should not get anything from Ukraine - NO MINERALS. The United States did nothing when Russia took Crimea & Georgia. If they had, this total devastation & loss of lives would not have occurred. The United States, UK , N. Ireland did not come to Ukraine’s rescue when Russia invaded. All four countries broke the agreement.
6. Since neither the U.S., UK, N.Ireland nor Russia held to the agreement, Ukraine SHOULD be allowed to join NATO. They earned it. That will assure no future invasions of their county.
By agreeing to these terms along with staying out of our elections, Putin is getting off lightly because Putin is now a war criminal and should really be sentenced to death. He did irreparable harm to babies, raping women, kidnapping children, bombing hospitals, etc. Not to mention the devastation of people’s homes, the infrastructure, loss of lives, the emotional and physical trauma, etc.
DON’T GIVE IN! The ball is in your court. Russia is sweating.
Sincerely,
A very SHOCKED, ASHAMED and HORRIFIED American citizen. I apologize, respect and support you. We all agree, we would prefer it if you were our President!
“This Memorandum will become applicable upon signature. Signed in four copies having an equal validity in the Ukrainian, English, and Russian languages.”
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Ukraine._Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances
A Harvard Professor of law, Timothy Snyder made some astute comments. You might like to interview him as he is an expert on Ukraine.
On the PBS Hour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11QBNJj_8gM
Professor Timothy Snyder on his Substack video (provided links for donating to Ukrainian organizations):
https://snyder.substack.com/p/five-failures-in-the-oval-office
Aside:
Trump & Vance should be BOTH be IMPEACHED for TREASON (aiding and abetting the enemy - Russia). They are both Russian assets, it’s obvious
Call your Representatives and Senators NOW: (202) 225-3121
I used these very words about Trump being tried for treason as an enemy of the
United States, making deals with Putin, without the knowledge of congress or the American People. We should not have to wait 2 yrs until the next election to see if the Democrats win seats in Congress, as our Democracy is being destroyed by Trump and his sidekick, his Rasputin Musk. In two years he will have taken control of every government agency we hold dear, and our military. Shame on us for. not remembering history of the past dictators and letting this inept politician getting away with rising to power.
wordygran5
I agree with you. I believe there may be enough outraged citizens that are contacting their Representatives and Senators along with the shocking realization Trump is firing everyone and anyone who could discover any corruption hold him accountable . He and Vance are siding with our enemies (Russia). At the very least they should be impeached. In reality, tried for treason.
Authoritarians either die in office, or get dragged through the streets.
A good example is Mussolini who was caught trying to escape Italy into Switzerland at the end of WWII with his girlfriend. He was striped, beaten nearly unrecognizable, shot to death,and hung by his heels from a bean over a gas station and hiscfrad body later paraded through Italy.
They also killed a bunch of fascist with him. They took the bodies to the city Square, where the same fascist marched and displayed killed Italian partisans. Towns people from all over came to the square for Retribution. One mother shot Mussolini’s dead body 5 times. One bullet for each of her murdered sons. After that, the string him up by his ankles above a gas station outside of town.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-death-of-benito-mussolini-the-italian-fascist-dictator-body-of-104169867.html?imageid=47FA601E-505A-41DD-A3B9-41CA6D16D401&p=75935&pn=1&searchId=ba651645b41731b0df703ea0eac575e3&searchtype=0
You are so thorough. I will study this treaty (for a while). I hope somebody sees and has the means to send you to school law schoo. :)
Thanks for the compliment. I have such rage, it compels me. I am at a point, like those in WWII, I would give my life for my country.
My dad’s eye operation (strabismus) provided for by Henry Ford enabled him to enlist in WWII. Trump, who ran away from serving our country would consider my dad, an officer, a “loser” as he lost partial hearing from the loud sounds. Glad he is not alive to witness this nightmare. (My dad became a family doctor and sent his strabismus patients to that same eye surgeon).
Thank you.
Yesterday was a meeting between a man without a suit and suit without a man.
How bout those Vermonters today? Give it up Merica !!! Mad River and MRG SKI AREA PUNCHES THE F BACK! Don’t tread on us u orang/ imbecile
What can we expect from our new president? He is a convicted felon.
Dear Heather: You are a heroic, inspirational historian. I wrote a poem for you called "Letters from a Democracy Defender". Hope you enjoy it! https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/heather-cox-richardson-letters-history-democracy
Public Servant, your poem is a beautiful, well-deserved tribute for Heather Cox Richardson. Thank you for sharing it.
Mob hit indeed...“not thanking the US” really?
Zelensky has always lavished thanks on the US - Vance should check out the first 5 mins of Zelensky speech to a joint meeting of Congress on 22 Dec 2022. What can be a greater thanks than that!
https://www.google.com/search?q=zelensky+joint+session+of+congress&oq=zelenski+joint+seccsion+of+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgBEAAYFhgeMgYIABBFGDkyCAgBEAAYFhgeMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBBAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgcIBRAAGO8FMgcIBhAAGO8FMgcIBxAAGO8F0gEJMTA3NDlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3b127506,vid:MIsx7VQyVVI,st:0
I remember that emotional day and the great gratitude of President Zelenskyy. It touched us greatly. Thank you for sharing.
“Litigate in front of Russian State Media”
It was all for Putin
Apparently the Russian media was in the Oval Office. Of course the answer was I didn’t know that.
This can only get worse, although switching sides in the middle of a war is pretty bad. But Trump seems to have lost all boundaries, and his rage boils just under the surface. We have lost our bearings, and the country will be paying the price long after Trump is dead.
It’s reached the surface. Trump wanted to hit Zelensky & grabbed him by the shoulder. If only that rage would do it arterial work!
Art of the Sleeze
Earlier I stated that without any evidence I felt that Trump appeared to be a Russian agent. Now after Trump's meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office I more strongly feel Trump is a Russian agent, Again, I have no proof.
On the site of The Hill, Alexander J. Motyl, prof of political science at Rutgers, expresses the same opinion : https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5162890-assessing-new-allegations-that-trump-was-recruited-by-the-kgb/
Liz Cheney’s quote was a good place to end this letter. Democrats alone cannot free us from this scourge. We need Republicans Independents as well to join in this. Liz Cheney could rise up. There are many others. This cannot continue without strong political opposition. Street demonstrations are needed ongoing as well.
We need good Americans to rise up. Thank you Liz for what you diz, whoops, meant did, but you continue to partition us. We are Americans in a democracy, we want everyone to thrive, excel, accomplish, prosper and live.
I’ll say this til I’m blue in the face - if you look at some of the Facebook accounts that are just random large Trump MAGA accounts - They see these things as victories and they want to see Zelensky fail. We as normal people obviously see what Heather‘s talking about BUT there are millions upon millions upon millions upon millions upon millions of people who see a completely different reality and side with Trump and Putin.
Dear Heather: You are a heroic, inspirational historian. I wrote a poem for you called "Letters from a Democracy Defender". Hope you enjoy it! https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/heather-cox-richardson-letters-history-democracy
I was moved to renew my subscription after watching Dr. Richardson's daily missives which chronicle history. I have lived 3/4's of a century and change including tours of battle grounds from the revolutionary war, the civil war and the wars on the Aboriginal Peoples. I am clearly angered by a draft-dodger who has been convicted for 34 felonies, and who wants to destroy my VA healthcare that I earned by going to Vietnam and that healthcare of my brother and sister veterans who served. To watch President Zelensky be humiliated by a leader who stated "his Vietnam was avoiding STD'S" was insulting. Zelensky who has met the Russian attacks head-onto be insulted by two ignoramuses who want to kiss Putin's ring and who have sullied the memories of Americans over two and a half centuries was galling.
Every American who cares about this country should understand the destruction of our democracy is being plotted by the TRUMPERS.
Thank you Ms Richardson for this excellent summary of yesterday’s disgraceful treatment of OUR ALLY PRESIDENT ZELENSKY by donald trump and j d vance. This is a serious black eye on US Diplomacy. It is time to consider IMPEACHMENT before putin has DJT in his pocket and we are all truly screwed! The whole bunch of MAGA appointees need to find new jobs!
Trump and Vance thought they had Zelensky over a barrel, that he would have to take the deal they were trying to force on him, making him an offer he couldn't refuse, in true mobster style.
But he did refuse it.
Vance had the nerve to upbraid Zelensky for responding to Trump in front of the cameras, yet it seems he thought it was fine for Trump to trash talk Biden and Obama on camera, and apparently condoning Trump's continuing with his unhinged tirade for public consumption. Good television, indeed.
Nothing new.
An orange bully doesn’t get this flustered unless he is afraid Putin is going to defenestrate them. And the HillBully elegy petard was feckless. The only thing he proved was his fingers are longer than Trump’s. BTW, when have those two clowns been in the same room? Where was the F-Elon? Don’t they realize the circus (with animals) was outlawed long ago?
Thank you so much for laying it out so clearly and answering the Trump GIP narrative of these recent events. We are all behind you and are very concerned. Some of us are afraid but still speaking out ourselves on our social media feeds.