Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Congress Wednesday morning, the first foreign leader to ever do so virtually. As expected, he asked for the U.S. to “close the skies” over Ukraine: A request for a no-fly zone that the U.S. has rejected out of concern that enforcing it — which would mean attacking Russia — would escalate the conflict into a full-fledged World War.
“If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” Zelensky said, and requested additional military aid and continually increasing sanctions on Russia and its companies.
He ended with an appeal to the White House. “As the leader of my nation, I am addressing President Biden: You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation,” he said. “I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
Biden is scheduled to speak at 11:45 a.m. ET, at which time he is expected to announce additional military aid.
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Former President Trump is reportedly considering revoking his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-AL) for Senate and backing one his primary rivals instead as the incumbent GOP congressman struggles in the polls.
Lackluster polling is one thing — but Trump also said he was not thrilled with Brooks for telling voters it’s time to move on from the 2020 presidential election, a hill Trump will likely die on.
Continue reading “Trump Is Rethinking Endorsement Of Mo Brooks After Lawmaker Suggested It’s Time To Move On” →
There are a few points I disagree with here. And I think — albeit perhaps indirectly — Joe Biden is very much part of these negotiations, for just the reason TPM Reader PT says: What Russia needs most is relief from sanctions and those are not under the Ukrainian government’s control. There is also a lot of broken glass that won’t be fixed even if all the sanctions were rescinded immediately. Having said all this, if the Ukrainian government said ‘hey we have an agreement that’s good for our country. We need you to drop the sanctions to make it happen,’ I think we’d be hard pressed to say, ‘Sorry, but we’re still too pissed about this.’ And yet the nature of Putin’s government, the depth of its revisionism and more, seems much more menacing than it did a month ago. There’s really no winding back to the clock to December 2021.
Here’s TPM Reader PT
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: The person who’s not involved in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and who ought to be, is Joe Biden.
I say this because a big part of what Russia is going to want out of a settlement with Ukraine is the removal of economic sanctions, which is not subject to Ukraine’s control. Ultimately it’s the free world that Russia needs to convince to relax those sanctions. At this point, Joe Biden is the undisputed leader of the free world. Thus it’s Biden that Putin needs to work with on this.
Continue reading “What About the Sanctions?” →
I’m making my way through your emails, which I thank you for — both for their content and the thoughtfulness you have taken in writing them. This one from TPM Reader AH is idiosyncratic but one thing AH said really resonated with me: “If the goal of journalism is to make the reader less confused, then TPM’s mode of existence contributes to that mission as much as the reporting in the articles.” There are many goals of journalism but it’s difficult for me to think of many that are more important. Indeed, a number of you have told us that what keeps you coming back to TPM is finding that the new big story or crises don’t come as big surprises to you because our journalism and analysis have anticipated them.
From TPM Reader AH …
Continue reading “TPM Readers Say Why #1” →
The domestic U.S. political moment is bound up around the fact that there is near universal support for Ukraine and opposition and antipathy for Russia. And yet, the leader of the Republican Party has been a consistent and obsequious supporter of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin for the last seven years and even up until this month. Indeed, so much that he actually worked with Putin to blackmail the current Ukrainian President who is now the recipient of worldwide and fairly deserved plaudits. I mean, he literally got impeached over it!
Even Trump himself is now rushing to reposition himself from what he was saying only a couple weeks ago when he praised Putin’s genius for annexing Ukrainian territory. In a new interview in The Washington Examiner he says that this new Putin is definitely different from the old Putin who — maybe as recently as two weeks ago? — was so awesome. “I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed.”
From the Examiner …
“I’m surprised — I’m surprised. I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,” Trump told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday evening during a wide-ranging telephone interview from Mar-a-Lago, his private social club and political headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. “I thought it was a tough way to negotiate but a smart way to negotiate.”
“I figured he was going to make a good deal like everybody else does with the United States and the other people they tend to deal with — you know, like every trade deal. We’ve never made a good trade deal until I came along,” Trump added.“And then he went in — and I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed.”
Former President Trump hasn’t confirmed whether he’s going to run again in 2024, but if he does, don’t expect to see his former VP Mike Pence on the ticket.
Continue reading “Trump Says He’ll Ditch Pence If He Makes A Comeback Bid In 2024” →
Thank you to everyone who has joined us so far in this year’s annual membership drive. We just added our hundredth new member for the drive this morning. So we’re off to a solid start for day one. If you’re a new or returning member, thank you! If you’re considering membership, please consider making today the day. Just click right here. It’s very important for our organization. We try to keep reminders and pushing as limited as possible. But don’t let that make you think it’s not really important, critical, to our operation. You can read my broader pitch here in yesterday’s kick off post.
Also thank you for all the thoughtful and insightful responses to the two questions I asked yesterday of existing members. More soon on that front.
Investment banker Mike Gibbons, a top Republican contender in the race for outgoing Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) seat, made racist remarks about people of Asian descent during one of his podcasts in 2013, citing debunked conspiracy theories in a pseudoscientific book, the New York Times found.
Continue reading “Ohio GOP Senate Candidate Boosts Bunk Race Science, Makes Racist Comments About Asians” →
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says Ukraine and Russia are now discussing “concrete formulations, that are close to agreement.” He says that potential agreement is on the basis of a Ukrainian proposal of neutrality on the model on Sweden or Austria, in which Ukraine forswears NATO membership but has its own military and independent foreign policy and is free to seek EU membership and whatever other ties with other countries it wants. This seems in line with what I mentioned yesterday that President Zelensky appears to have been telegraphing. He’s made a series of statements in recent days saying he’s soured on NATO, that NATO’s never going to accept Ukraine, etc. That may be true as a prognostication and I’m sure he’s not happy about it. But the logic of saying it seems aimed at softening the ground for including non-membership as part of a peace settlement. Take it off the table yourself, accept it through your own agency rather than as a diktat. This part about Zelensky is my interpretation. But I’m pretty confident this is correct. I also suspect these negotiations may be much closer to fruition than people are thinking.
A few other points.
Continue reading “Very Significant” →
