Ep. 2149 - Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting GOES TOTALLY NUCLEAR

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The Ben Shapiro Show 1h 25m 25 speakers 2 chapters transcribed
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What led to the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting?

Ben Shapiro 0:00
Got a ton coming up for you on today's show. It is a mega show today. President Trump throws Vladimir Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine, out of the White House after a nuclear meltdown of a press conference. The rest of the world reacts, and we examine whether there is a new Trump doctrine or whether Zelensky simply blew it. We'll get to all that first tomorrow night. Daily Wire Backstage returns live for President Donald Trump's address to Congress. We are covering it all. Do not miss the exclusive pre-show at 8.30 p.m. Eastern, followed by the full address completely uninterrupted. And when he's done, we're back with a breakdown of what it all means. Watch with us tomorrow night at Daily Wire Plus.
Ben Shapiro 0:35
Okay, so before I get to the actual nuclear meltdown of a press conference, and we're going to go through the whole press conference because I think that it is a disservice to all involved for us to simply focus on the moment where everything went south. This is a long press conference. It was a nearly 50-minute press conference. And I want to go through everything that led up to the press conference because it sort of explains where everybody is, President Trump, Vice President Vance, Vladimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and how we got to the nuclear meltdown. I want to remind you what a wise man wrote in October of 2022, quote, Henry Kissinger has been publicly excoriated for suggesting that the off-ramp to this conflict will be territorial concessions by Ukraine to Russia, a repeat of the Moscow Peace Treaty that was signed after the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1941. But he may be correct.
Ben Shapiro 1:24
particularly if the West is unwilling to bear the full economic and military cost of a larger war with Russia. In the end, it may be that the least bad scenario is about simply preventing the worst case scenario. That wise man, of course, was yours truly. I've been arguing since mid-2022 that the off-ramp in Ukraine involved territorial concessions to Russia, Donbass, and Crimea in return for security guarantees that would ensure no renewal of Russian war in Ukraine. That has been the clear off-ramp for legitimately almost three years at this point. And so my view when it comes to the war in Ukraine is whatever gets us to that durable off-ramp is good. And whatever gets in the way of that durable off-ramp is bad. That's all.
Ben Shapiro 2:04
By the way, that also happens to be the policy of the Trump administration, which is seeking an off-ramp that would, in fact, not allow Vladimir Putin to waltz into Kiev, but also acknowledges that the likelihood of Ukraine winning back Donbass and Crimea is basically zero and has been since 2014. So that was the predicate to the big meeting that was supposed to happen on Friday. So on Friday, President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, was supposed to arrive in the United States and go to the White House, and he was supposed to sign a minerals deal. Now, there was an immediate conflict between what both parties wanted from this. President Trump, he wanted the minerals deal because, number one, he believes that the United States ought to be repaid for its investment in other countries.
Ben Shapiro 2:44
This has been a longstanding belief of President Trump's that when we get involved in foreign policy, there ought to be sort of a clear return to the United States, whether we're talking about defending Kuwait from Saddam Hussein or whether we're talking about paying to defend Ukraine from Russia. There should be some sort of return to the American taxpayer. Otherwise, in President Trump's beliefs, we are getting screwed. That has been a longstanding Trumpian position. But there is something else going on here. And this was made clear during the press conference. President Trump always saw the economic minerals deal as a sort of foot in the door to prevent a Russian invasion. Because if the United States has workers in Ukraine who are, for example, mining rare earths minerals, And then the Russians invade. The United States is immediately dragged in. And President Trump is not wrong about this.

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