Analysis | 4 takeaways from the Trump-Zelensky meeting that devolved into a shouting match

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

84% : After things calmed a bit, Trump reflected: "This is going to be great television, I will say that."
75% : The first thing to note is that Trump is a very transactional president whose chief concern often seems to be how much you praise him.
53% : Trump said toward the beginning.
52% : Later in the meeting, Trump suggested some sympathy with Putin.
46% : And sure enough, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had "determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.
40% : Here was Trump confidently (yet wrongly) trying to correct the leader of another country about when a portion of his own country was taken over.
39% : " Even to the extent this did further alienate Trump, perhaps Zelensky reasoned that it was necessary to send Europe a signal that they would all have to go it alone.
37% : Trump concluded, before alluding to the fact that he wasn't there to stop it: "I was not here." It was a minor point in the exchanges, but also a striking one and a potential turning point.
33% : "It's going to be a tough deal to make up because the attitudes have to change," Trump said.
30% : "You see the hatred [Zelensky has] got for Putin," Trump said, with Zelensky sitting right next to him.
29% : Zelensky also suggested the president and vice president were insufficiently skeptical of Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions. To summarize: Trump responded to a question from a reporter about whether he was too aligned with Putin by arguing that his softer approach was necessary.
29% : Some critics -- including conservative foreign policy hawks -- have wagered that Trump is pressuring Ukraine to cave to end the war, even if that means favorable terms for Russia.
28% : Trump repeatedly objected to this, and Zelensky responded that he was only talking about Russia's "influence.
28% : "Let me tell you: Putin went through a hell of a lot with me," Trump said.
24% : Trump has gone further than the evidence suggests in claiming his own exoneration in the Russia investigation.
23% : But Trump has always sought to cast doubt on that.
23% : Or perhaps Trump and Vance simply have done and said a bunch of things that the leader of a war-ravaged country resented, and after weeks of that and three years of war, he wasn't going to take it anymore.
22% : But Trump has had no problem saying terrible things about Zelensky recently, including falsely claiming Zelensky is a dictator and that Ukraine started the war (Russia illegally invaded Ukraine).
21% : A brief summary There was much back-and-forth, but it basically boiled down to Trump and Vance casting Zelensky as insufficiently grateful and uninterested in cutting a deal with Russia to end the war.
20% : Trump proceeded to expound at length on how Ukraine was in a very bad spot and needed the United States, suggesting Zelensky should be more careful.
14% : "2015," Trump said, suggesting Zelensky had gotten his date wrong.
14% : At least one Republican has likened the mineral rights deal to "extortion" of a war-torn country by Trump, and Trump and his defense secretary have made a series of comments this month that could hurt Ukraine's bargaining power.
2% : While Zelensky had hit back at Trump by saying he lived in a "web of disinformation," Trump got the ball rolling on criticizing Zelensky -- and, notably, in a way Trump almost never does with Putin.

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