Horror Show: Trump and Vance Exploit Zelenskyy's Desperation in Oval Office Shakedown
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What happened during the Trump and Zelenskyy meeting?
Well, I've been in my fair share of Oval Office meetings, but fortunately none quite like that one. Most of the world has been reacting in horror to the way Trump and Vance berated Ukraine's president on Friday. But not the Kremlin. This morning, they said it all aligns with their vision. David Remnick is the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker and served as the Washington Post's Moscow bureau chief. Michael McFaul is the former U.S. ambassador to Russia. And both of them join me live in just a moment. Plus, I'll ask Senator Mark Kelly about his Republican colleagues who are twisting themselves into pretzels to defend Donald Trump in this moment, as one of them actually decides to speak out. OK, what we saw on Friday in the Oval Office is one of those things, even if you had a crazy week, you almost definitely heard about.
Even if you don't follow the news closely, my bet is you heard something or saw something about what happened between Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and Vladimir Zelensky. Lots of people were appalled for good reason. Vladimir Putin was delighted, which tells you something. But it was something that the whole world kind of stopped and watched. I mean, in the aftermath of that horror show, the UK and France felt the need to develop their own peace plan with Ukraine that they will present to us. The front page of one of the biggest British conservative newspapers called Trump a bully who is no longer welcome for his state visit. And here at home, protesters in Vermont lined up to greet Vice President J.D.
Vance, carrying signs with slogans like compassion is not transactional, democracy, not fascism. And my personal favorite, go ski in Russia, J.D. That's creative. But hey, I guess at least someone was happy. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov came out and said today that Trump's foreign policy, quote, largely coincides with our vision. A statement, by the way, that would have made the skin crawl of former Republican leaders like John McCain and Mitt Romney and many others. Let's just back up for a second, because there were some things that happened before Friday, before that meeting on Friday, that just gave you a sense it was going to be a bonkers day at the White House. I just want to focus on one of them just for a moment, because I think it's telling. Because earlier in the day, we started getting reports from journalists at the White House that a member of Russian state media had gained access to that meeting in the Oval Office. We also learned that Reuters and the Associated Press were left out.
Now, just to be clear, to put a little fine point on this one, that means an outlet that literally takes direction from the Kremlin briefly had access to a meeting between the sitting US president and the president of the country that their bosses invaded. It also means two global wire services known for reporting straight news around the world were denied access. And we know that decision to kick out the AP and Reuters was made by the White House. And they made that decision despite the fact that these outlets have been permanent members of what's known as the protective pool, which is basically a smaller group of reporters who are always there to witness things the president does, to represent the larger press corps, no matter how big or how small the events are.
Now, the pool exists to ensure the media and therefore the public is protected from missing out on an expected news story. The state's all the way back to Eisenhower. I mean, the pool was there for the assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan. It was there on 9-11. And the pool is there when the president is on vacation, on any travel whatsoever. They're there for everything. And they're there for everything because at any moment, news can happen. And having journalists present to ask questions of the president is very much in the public interest. But the Trump administration obviously sees things very differently. They don't want outlets that are focused on reporting the actual news.
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