Open arguments and bickering in the Oval Office are not usually a good look. But the bitterness of the exchange between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump was not only “good television,” it amounted to bringing the Ukrainian question to a head. Some saw Trump as being boorish, goaded by J.D. Vance. Others saw Zelenskyy as grandstanding, using the President as a prop for his propaganda.

Although Trump was blunt, he was largely correct in rebuking the Ukrainian President. When he said that he “had no cards,” he simply stated a political fact. But the reason for Zelenskyy’s boldness was that he was buffeted by his allies in Congress, such as Lindsey Graham, Don Bacon, and a legion of Democrats. This was largely due to the fact Zelenskyy had breakfast with his Capitol Hill friends at the Hay-Adams Hotel, who pledged fealty to a foreign leader before he met with an American President.

Convinced they had control over Trump and having coordinated with their client, they thought it would be an easy day. Zelenskyy felt so at home that he arrived 30 minutes late, confident that Trump would buckle under a Fait Accompli. But from the start, the Ukrainian President was eager to backtrack from the deal on the rare deposits and minerals. Trump and Vance reacted understandably to his cockiness and lectured him over having no sense of proportion.

Afterward, Zelenskyy’s allies, such as Lindsay Graham, quickly disowned him. Of course, Graham was simply regrouping, hoping to convince the President that Zelenskyy simply had a bad day. And of course, urged the Ukrainian leader to resign for the sin of going off script. It was low theater, but farcical nonetheless.

Last, in all of this, Trump allowed his transactional side to obscure his vision of the total problem.

The war will not end without Russia, which currently occupies 40% of all those areas with rare earth deposits. Moreover, Europe cannot make up for American aid, and the EU political situation is appalling, with weakening economies and weak governments in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron came to Washington with hands almost as weak as their Ukrainian ally. Of course, Olaf Scholz could not make it because he was voted out of office. The Alternative for Germany gaining over 20% of the vote and the recent triumph of Marine Le Pen in France, has left the UA with a plastic sword.

Undeniably, Zelenskyy has pluck, but he needs to face facts. Now Trump might want a more compliant leader in Kyiv, which conjures up visions of South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963 being replaced by a military junta. Diem once had support from the same type of politicians in the United States that back Zelenskyy today.

Unless one wants full-scale war in Ukraine involving American troops, one should give Trump’s initiative a special look. Stephen Bannon did not particularly like the rare earth deal, seeing that it was another hook to deeply involve the US in a conflict that it cannot afford either in treasure or lives.