You can argue that the deal presented to Ukraine was one that benefits America (access to mineral rights in exchange for nothing -- not even a guarantee of supp

You can argue that the deal presented to Ukraine was one that benefits America (access to mineral rights in exchange for nothing -- not even a guarantee of support) and therefore a GoodThingTM from that perspective. And if this conversation had been behind closed doors, that _might_ have been okay (though still damaging to the US long-term, IMO). But there's no way to argue that Trump and Vance's behavior was not highly damaging to America. But it was a shit deal for Ukraine--and the early drafts and pressure to sign by Trump's envoy were shockingly bad, no president would sign something like that. So Z came to negotiate and press his case, which being a country that's been resisting an invasion for the past years, he certainly is entitled to do. Z did _not_ ask for US troops in the Ukraine[0]. He's smart enough to know that will never happen. But he does want continued military support, which if the US were still supporting democracies and resisting authoritarianism (which it's supposed to be doing, though yes, it has a long history of doing the opposite), it would do. Instead, Trump comes off like Don Corleone: pay up or you're sleeping with the fishes. That's what the world will remember. [0] https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-war-troops-883661209159 https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-volodymyr-zelenskyy-uk...