Creator of Trump vs. CNN Meme Offers Apology We All Need to Hear

Welcome to the new normal, another day, another Presidential tweet story. A Redditor who created the video clip of Trump going WWF on a guy with CNN logo superimposed on his face was tracked down by CNN and he's now offering an apology. The mea culpa doesn't fit with the typical media narrative but there is a message he shares that is important for everyone to hear.

Trolling is addictive and what you say actually means something even when you mean nothing.

"Now listen to what the guy said who made the original and was accused of this and did some really bad things. Look what he said: 'Your self-worth does not come from this. It's addictive. Think of the other people on the receiving end, before you say really horrible things that you know you don't mean. Because it's real,'" Glenn said on radio Wednesday.

For good or evil, there is a powerful message for our society.

"Your voice is more powerful than you ever could imagine. And man's individual voice is more powerful than it's ever been since the creation of the earth and Adam first woke up," Glenn said.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: All right. So CNN finds the guy who made that video of Trump in the WWF fight from years ago. And -- and -- and they ask him, okay. So what's up, dude?

Because he posted, wow, can't believe the president retweeted this.

Well, you go to his Reddit file, and you see that he has done horrible, horrible things. Really anti-Semitic. Really bad.

And this is the part of the story that doesn't make sense to me. Because the usual way for the mainstream media to handle this is you see a guy who is posting anti-Semitic stuff. You do nothing. You just assume he's a conservative. And you go for him. And it doesn't matter what the truth is. And, I mean, I don't know how you can post anti-Semitic stuff and the truth be good, but you just never give him a break in the mainstream media ever.

They -- they do everything they can to connect decent, innocent people to those kinds of thoughts, when they don't exist.

Here's a guy where it does exist. He apologizes. And they're like, okay. Well, we accept his apology.

I don't understand that. Because the way I look at the media, they are only in for the president's blood, at every step of the way. And so it doesn't -- something is not right on this story. Or something has changed that I find hard to believe. But maybe.

So what do we get out of this? Well, I want you to read what he posted yesterday. I think this is something that we should all read to our kids at dinner tonight. I'll share it, when we come back.

(OUT AT 9:31AM)

GLENN: I just can't get over the feeling that something is not right with this -- with this story, this HanAholeSolo story from Reddit.

STU: The internet makes every story interesting because you have to read their stupid screen names.

GLENN: I know. I know.

This -- this guy was up on Reddit and filed all kinds of anti-Semitic stuff. And then he's the guy who apparently did a version of the -- the tweet the president sent out. And it's the one where the president is -- it's old footage of Donald Trump at a wrestling match, and he throws a guy down on the ground and just beats the snot out of him. It's a wrestling thing.

And -- and this guy superimposed the CNN logo over the face of the guy the president is beating.

Well, he gets up -- he sees the president has tweeted it. And he thinks it's his. And he's like, oh, my gosh, that's great. And he's happy.

But then when the media gets a hold of it and says, look at the violence, the guy isn't happy. He's like, you know what, that's not mine. That was somebody else's. Somebody else took my original tweet and then added sound effects and music behind it or audio.

STU: Initially, he was happy.

GLENN: Yeah, initially he was happy.

STU: Then he turned around.

GLENN: Then he turned around. Yes.

STU: It's important.

GLENN: Now, this is the part that I think we can actually use to help our own children. But some of this is really interesting.

First of all -- this is his apology now: First of all, I'd like to apologize to the members of the Reddit community for getting this site and this sub embroiled in a controversy that should never have happened. I would also like to apologize for the posts made that were racist, bigoted, and anti-Semitic. I am in no way that person. I love and accept people of all walks of life, and I've done so for my entire life.

Huh. Okay.

I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life. I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction from the subs on Reddit and never meant any of the hateful things I said in these posts. I would never support any kind of violence or actions against others, simply for what they believe in, their religion, or their lifestyle they choose to have, nor would I carry out any violence against anyone based upon that or support anybody who did.

Do you believe that?

STU: You know, it's -- it's weird coming from someone who would post that kind of trash on the internet. But, I mean, it reads I think in an authentic way, does it not?

JEFFY: Yeah.

STU: You know, someone who --

GLENN: I think there's a lot of people -- I think there's a lot of people -- I know I have responded kindly to people who are just trolls. And not so much anymore. But there were times when they would be like, "Oh, man, I was just kidding."

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And it was really -- people do try just to get a reaction.

STU: Totally, and I think it's a way for people to feel alive. And it says a hell of a lot about our society.

GLENN: It says a lot.

The meme was created purely as satire, he continues to write. It was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation. I had no idea anyone would take it and put sound to it and then put it up on the president's Twitter feed.

That's the question. Who did that?

It was a prank, nothing more. What the president's feed showed was not the original post posted here, but loaded up somewhere else and sounded added to it and then sent out to Twitter.

I think this is why they're accepting the apology. They're giving him credit to bring this to closer to the president.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Because who did that? Did the president have somebody do that?

I think this is why this is being accepted. Because it makes no sense to me. Something's wrong. Something's wrong.

And only because -- and I want to take people at face value. But you need more than one time of letting somebody go of something like this.

JEFFY: Well, there has to be a first time.

GLENN: There does. There does. There does.

It was a prank, nothing more. I thought it was the original post that was made, and that's why I took credit for it. I have the highest respect for the journalistic community. And they put their lives on the line every day with jobs that they do, reporting the news.

Okay.

PAT: They do?

STU: In war zones.

PAT: I mean, war correspondence maybe. But that's a pretty small percentage.

STU: Yes. An exaggeration of the --

PAT: Yes. Yes. They're not the military.

GLENN: To people that troll -- now, this is the part -- this is the part that I think is important to read to your family, to sit down and talk about, was this right -- play the video. Was this right? Was this right of the president to post it? Was it right for somebody who made it? Was the media's reaction right?

PAT: No.

GLENN: And just -- just talk to -- just talk to your kids about the difference between right and wrong. Because our kids look at the internet as a game.

To people who troll on the internet for fun, he writes, consider your words and the actions conveyed in your message and who it might upset or anger. Put yourself in their shoes before you post it.

I mean, I remember saying things, doing things, and then, you know, a friend of the family or somebody else would say, "Hey -- that I didn't know what was standing there -- what would your mother say about that?" And you would immediately freeze and go, "Yes, sir." That's as bad as it got for us, was just saying it to four or five of our stupid friends and getting caught.

It's totally different now. What this guy said got somehow or another to the president of the United States.

Put yourself in their shoes before you post it. If you have a problem with trolling it -- if you have a problem with trolling, it is an addiction just like any other addiction someone can have to something. And don't be embarrassed to ask for help.

That's powerful to say to your kids. And that goes to all of the studies that we're reading about now, that talk about the hits that you get in your head every time somebody likes what you've said.

STU: Studies and South Park episodes. Both -- both scientific genres are speaking about --

GLENN: Yes. I believe the South Park episode actually more.

Trolling is nothing more than bullying a wide audience. Don't feed your own self-worth based upon inflicting suffering upon others online, just because you're behind a keyboard.

I think that's a tremendous story.

STU: Yeah.

PAT: It's a good apology. I -- I just -- I can't help, but think that this has been blown way out of proportion. I mean, you know, it's Trump doing a wrestling move on somebody with CNN on their face. It wasn't really CNN.

STU: What? No, it said it right on his face.

PAT: He didn't really do this. Nothing happened in real life. It's just a dumb little, what? Five-second video?

STU: Yes.

PAT: It's just -- it's so out of proportion. We've just lost all connection with proportion now.

GLENN: No, because we've lost all connection with decorum. We've -- I mean, guys if Barack Obama would have done that with a teabag over a guy's head, we would have gone crazy, and the media would have said nothing. We would have gone crazy. We would have. We would have.

PAT: Hmm.

GLENN: Yes, we would have.

STU: Yeah. Probably.

GLENN: If Barack Obama would have tweeted out something like that, and he had like a 9/12 Project and a Tea Party --

STU: I can -- I can imagine.

GLENN: Can you imagine? We would have gone crazy. We went crazy when he said, you know, and the car is in the ditch. And a bunch of Teabaggers, we're not going to let them drive. You'll put us in the ditch.

STU: Yeah.

PAT: A more exact example would be Fox News. Would we have gone crazy if it was Fox?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

PAT: Maybe.

GLENN: Yes. Yes, we would have.

PAT: He trashed Fox all the time.

STU: And we went crazy. And we went crazy.

PAT: And it was him. Literally him, not just the president retweeting him. It was him saying Fox was --

GLENN: I know. I know.

PAT: So...

GLENN: But we had a problem with it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: Yeah. That's --

GLENN: We had a real problem with it. And so it's not that this is a big deal. It's -- honestly, yesterday -- I should share this. I wrote something on Facebook, and it started with this premise, that the older I get, the less I hate things. You know, when you're a kid, you hate stuff. And your mom is always like, oh, no. You don't hate. You hate the actions that -- no, I hate the person, Mom. I hate them.

No, you hate their actions and the things that they do.

The older I get, the less I hate. The more I realize that things really, really matter, or they don't matter at all.

And the reason why this was going through my head yesterday was this tweet doesn't matter at all. It doesn't matter at all.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: We're reading into it what we want to read into it. And we are reading into -- or, we are looking at a presidency that this -- this happens -- Bush was the last real president that tried to represent both sides. He tried to represent both sides.

He never was, well, tell them to go to hell. He did say that about -- you're either with us or against us, it came to conquering al-Qaeda and evil. But I'm okay with that one, but some people weren't. But he never went out -- I mean, he met with Cindy Sheehan and everything else. The president did not reach out to the right.

PAT: He didn't meet with her eight times. So...

GLENN: Right. So he never -- President Obama never reached out to the Tea Party heads, tried to really talk to the people.

PAT: Nope. No.

GLENN: Instead, you know, the IRS and Teabaggers and all this stuff. And this president has just upped that game. So we're just seeing -- we're just seeing an evolution of the presidency that I don't like. I didn't like it in the last one. I don't like it in this one. Some people don't mind it in this one because of what happened in the last one. Some people are minding it in this one because they didn't see it happening in the last one.

We saw it in both. I don't like it in either. I think that's a good place to be.

But it doesn't matter. What matters are the little things.

You know, when I -- when I wrote that yesterday, I don't hate, there are just things that matter and don't. And it's funny because a lot of the stuff that the media focuses on, really, it doesn't matter to me. The things that matter are the things I used to hate when I was a kid. Sitting down at the dinner table and having dinner every night. I was always like, I got to go. I got to go. I got another thing. I got practice. I have this. I have that. I've got to go.

I hated sitting down at dinner. I I had a --

PAT: What kind of practice did you have? Like violin? What sort of practice did you have to get to?

JEFFY: I had the same question.

STU: Pinochle. Pinochle. Was it -- what kind of --

GLENN: Theater and choir. Yes.

PAT: Theater. All right.

GLENN: There are other kinds of practices, you know.

JEFFY: Well, that's why we were asking.

STU: He was just trying to clarify.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: So, anyway, had to go do stuff. Now, that's one of the most important things ever. It's just -- and I don't hate practice. I don't hate other things that you have to do. I just really love this. I just really love this. And I found meaning in the small things.

Which brings me to how I read this about Donald Trump and about CNN, you know, holding this guy hostage or whatever the hell is going on.

I don't care. That story, they can have it. They -- go further that story all you want. Here's what really needs to -- you need to know: The last paragraph of this three-paragraph apology, is one we should all be sitting down with our kids tonight and saying, here's news. I don't know what that means.

I mean, does any of this make you feel like it's right?

Now listen to what the guy said who made the original and was accused of this and did some really bad things. Look what he said.

Your self-worth does not come from this. It's addictive. Think of the other people on the receiving end, before you say really horrible things that you know you don't mean. Because it's real. Your voice -- just think of this lesson.

His voice, unbeknownst to him, made it to the president's desk. Don't tell me that you can't be heard in today's society.

Your voice is more powerful than you ever could imagine. And man's individual voice is more powerful than it's ever been since the creation of the earth and Adam first woke up.

Trump's 3 BIGGEST border victories

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The Southern Border is healing!

Just hours after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border. A little over a month later, the tide of migrants pouring into the United States has been significantly stemmed. Trump is delivering on his major campaign promises: stopping illegal crossings, rolling back Biden-era border policies, and using every available resource to fortify the border against future challenges.

In his recent congressional speech, Trump highlighted these border security successes—achievements often overshadowed by the flood of other news stories this past month. To spotlight this monumental progress, we’ve compiled a list of Trump’s three most significant border victories.

1. Significantly reduced border encounters

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When Trump took office, it was clear—the sheriff was back in town. According to the Department of Homeland Security, daily border encounters have plummeted by 93 percent since his inauguration. Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ramped up its efforts: in the past month alone, ICE doubled arrests of criminal aliens and tripled apprehensions of fugitives at large. This dramatic shift stems from reinstating strict border policies, restoring common-sense enforcement, and unleashing the full capabilities of ICE and Border Patrol.

2. Major policy changes

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President Trump has also made sweeping strides in border policy. He reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, requiring immigrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of being released into the U.S. He also terminated the controversial “catch and release” practice, which had allowed millions of illegal immigrants to stay in the country pending court dates. Additionally, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, mandating detention for all illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes.

Another key victory was designating cartels like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations. This classification empowers law enforcement and border agencies to tackle these ruthless gangs with the seriousness and resources they demand.

3. Deployed major muscle

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Trump is doubling down on border security—and he’s not holding back. He deployed 1,500 U.S. troops to secure the southern border and restarted construction of the border wall. Among the forces sent is a Stryker Brigade, a rapid-response, high-tech mechanized infantry unit equipped with armored ground and air vehicles. This brigade’s mobility and long-range capabilities make it ideal for patrolling the rugged, remote stretches of the border.

Fort Knox exposed: Is America's gold MISSING?

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President Trump promised that we would get a peek inside Fort Knox, but are we ready for what we might find?

In this new era of radical transparency, the possibility that the Deep State's darkest secrets could be exposed has many desperate for answers to old questions. Recently, Glenn has zeroed in on gold, specifically America's gold reserves, which are supposed to be locked away inside the vaults of Fort Knox. According to the government, there are 147.3 million ounces of gold stored within several small secured rooms that are themselves locked behind a massive 22 ton vault door, but the truth is that no one has officially seen this gold since 1953. An audit is long overdue, and President Trump has already shown interest in the idea.

America's gold reserve has been surrounded by suspicion for the better part of a hundred years. It all started in 1933, when FDR effectivelynationalized the United States's private gold stores, forcing Americans to sell their gold to the government. This gold was melted down, forged into bars, and stored in the newly constructed U.S. Bullion Depository building at Fort Knox. By 1941, Fort Knox had held 649.6 million ounces of gold—which, you may have noticed, was 502.3 million ounces more than today. We'll come back to that.

By 1944, World War II was ending, and the Allies began planning how to rebuild Europe. The U.N. held a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, where the USD was established as the world's reserve currency. This meant that any country (though not U.S. citizens) could exchange the USD for gold at the fixed rate of $35 per ounce. Already, you can see where our gold might have gone.

Jump to the 1960s, where Lyndon B. Johnson was busy digging America into a massive debt hole. Between the Vietnam War and Johnson's "Great Society" project, the U.S. was bleeding cash and printing money to keep up. But now Fort Knox no longer held enough physical gold to cover the $35 an ounce rate promised by the Bretton Woods agreement. France took notice of this weakness and began to redeem hundreds of millions of dollars. In the 70s Nixon staunched this gushing wound by halting foreign nations from redeeming dollars for gold, but this had the adverse effect of ending the gold standard.

This brings us to the present, where inflation is through the roof, no one knows how much gold is actually inside Fort Knox, and someone in America has been buying a LOT of gold. Who is buying this gold? Where is it going and for what purpose? Glenn has a few ideas, and one of them is MUCH better than the other:

The path back to gold

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One possibility is that all of this gold that has been flooding into America is in preparation for a shift back to a gold-backed, or partial-gold-backed system. The influx of gold corresponds with a comment recently made by Trump's new Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, who said he was going to:

“Monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people.”

Glenn pointed out that per a 1972 law, the gold in Fort Knox is currently set at a fixed value of $42 an ounce. At the time of this writing, gold was valued at $2,912.09 an ounce, which is more than a 6,800 percent increase. If the U.S. stockpile was revalued to reflect current market prices, it could be used to stabilize the dollar. This could even mean a full, or partial return to the gold standard, depending on the amount of gold currently being imported.

Empty coffers—you will own nothing

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Unfortunately, Glenn suspects there is another, darker purpose behind the recent gold hubbub.

As mentioned before, the last realaudit of Fort Knox was done under President Eisenhower, in 1953. While the audit passed, a report from the Secretary of the Treasury revealed that a mere 13.6 percent was checked. For the better part of a century, we've had no idea how much gold is present under Fort Knox. After the gold hemorrhage in the 60s, many were suspicious of the status of our gold supply. In the 80s, a wealthy businessman named Edward Durell released over a decade's worth of research that led him to conclude that Fort Knox was all but empty. In short, he claimed that the Federal Reserve had siphoned off all the gold and sold it to Europe.

What would it mean if America's coffers are empty? According to a post by X user Matt Smith that Glenn shared, empty coffers combined with an influx of foreign gold could represent the beginning of a new, controlled economy. We couldstill be headed towards a future where you'll ownnothing.

Glenn: The most important warning of your lifetime—AI is coming for you

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Artificial intelligence isn’t coming. It’s here. The future we once speculated about is no longer science fiction—it’s reality. Every aspect of our lives, from how we work to how we think, is about to change forever. And if you’re not ready for it, you’re already behind. This isn’t just another technological leap. This is the biggest shift humanity has ever faced.

The last call before the singularity

I've been ringing this bell for 30 years. Thirty years warning you about what’s coming. And now, here we are. This isn’t a drill. This isn’t some distant future. It’s happening now. If you don’t understand what’s at stake, you need to wake up—because we have officially crossed the event horizon of artificial intelligence.

What’s an event horizon? It’s the edge of a black hole—the point where you can’t escape, no matter how hard you try. AI is that black hole. The current is too strong. The waterfall is too close. If you haven’t been paying attention, you need to start right now. Because once we reach Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), there is no turning back.

You’ve heard me talk about this for decades. AI isn’t just a fancy Siri. It isn’t just ChatGPT. We are on the verge of machines that will outthink every human who has ever lived—combined. ASI won’t just process information—it will anticipate, decide, and act faster than any of us can comprehend. It will change everything about our world, about our lives.

And yet, the conversation around AI has been wrong. People think the real dangers are coming later—some distant dystopian nightmare. But we are already in it. We’ve passed the point where AI is just a tool. It’s becoming the master. And the people who don’t learn to use it now—who don’t understand it, who don’t prepare for it—are going to be swallowed whole.

I know what some of you are thinking: "Glenn, you’ve spent years warning us about AI, about how dangerous it is. And now you’re telling us to embrace it?" Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Because if you don’t use this tool—if you don’t learn to master it—then you will be at its mercy.

This is not an option anymore. This is survival.

How you must prepare—today

I need you to take AI seriously—right now. Not next year, not five years from now. This weekend.

Here’s what I want you to do: Open up one of these AI tools—Grok 3, ChatGPT, anything advanced—and start using it. If you’re a CEO, have it analyze your competitors. If you’re an artist, let it critique your work. If you’re a stay-at-home parent, have it optimize your budget. Ask it questions. Push it to its limits. Learn what it can do—because if you don’t, you will be left behind.

Let me be crystal clear: AI is not your friend. It’s not your partner. It’s not something to trust. AI is a shovel—an extremely powerful shovel, but still just a tool. And if you don’t understand that, you’re in trouble.

We’ve already seen what happens when we surrender to technology without thinking. Social media rewired our brains. Smartphones reshaped our culture. AI will do all that—and more. If you don’t take control now, AI will control you.

Ask yourself: When AI makes decisions for you—when it anticipates your needs before you even know them—at what point do you stop being the one in charge? At what point does AI stop being a tool and start being your master?

And that’s not even the worst of it. The next step—transhumanism—is coming. It will start with good intentions. Elon Musk is already developing implants to help people walk again. And that’s great. But where does it stop? What happens when people start “upgrading” themselves? What happens when people choose to merge with AI?

I know my answer. I won’t cross that line. But you’re going to have to decide for yourself. And if you don’t start preparing now, that decision will be made for you.


The final warning—act now or be left behind

I need you to hear me. This is not optional. This is not something you can ignore. AI is here. And if you don’t act now, you will be lost.

The next 18 months will change everything. People who don’t prepare—who don’t learn to use AI—will be scrambling to catch up. And they won’t catch up. The gap will be too wide. You’ll either be leading, or you’ll be swallowed whole.

So start this weekend. Learn it. Test it. Push it. Master it. Because the people who don’t? They will be the tools.

The decision is yours. But time is running out.

The coming AI economy and the collapse of traditional jobs

Think back to past technological revolutions. The industrial revolution put countless blacksmiths, carriage makers, and farmhands out of business. The internet wiped out entire industries, from travel agencies to brick-and-mortar retail. AI is bigger than all of those combined. This isn’t just about job automation—it’s about job obliteration.

Doctors, lawyers, engineers—people who thought their jobs were untouchable—will find themselves replaced by AI. A machine that can diagnose disease with greater accuracy, draft legal documents in seconds, or design infrastructure faster than an entire team of engineers will be cheaper, faster, and better than human labor. If you’re not preparing for that reality, you’re already falling behind.

What does this mean for you? It means constant adaptation. Every three to five years, you will need to redefine your role, retrain, and retool. The only people who survive this AI revolution will be the ones who understand its capabilities and learn to work with it, not against it.

The moral dilemma: When do you stop being human?

The real danger of AI isn’t just economic—it’s existential. When AI merges with humans, we will face an unprecedented question: At what point do we stop being human?

Think about it. If you implant a neural chip that gives you access to the entire internet in your mind, are you still the same person? If your thoughts are intertwined with AI-generated responses, where do you end and AI begins? This is the future we are hurtling toward, and few people are even asking the right questions.

I’m asking them now. And you should be too. Because that line—between human and machine—is coming fast. You need to decide now where you stand. Because once we cross it, there is no going back.

Final thoughts: Be a leader, not a follower

AI isn’t a passing trend. It’s not a gadget or a convenience. It is the most powerful force humanity has ever created. And if you don’t take the time to understand it now, you will be at its mercy.

This is the defining moment of our time. Will you be a master of AI? Or will you be mastered by it? The choice is yours. But if you wait too long, you won’t have a choice at all.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Trump's Zelenskyy deal falls apart: What happened and what's next?

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Trump offered Zelenskyy a deal he couldn’t refuse—but Zelenskyy rejected it outright.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington to sign a historic agreement aimed at ending the brutal war ravaging Ukraine. Joined by Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump met with Zelenskyy and the press before the leaders were set to retreat behind closed doors to finalize the deal. Acting as a gracious host, Trump opened the meeting by praising Zelenskyy and the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. He expressed enthusiasm for the proposed agreement, emphasizing its benefits—such as access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals for the U.S.—and publicly pledged continued American aid in exchange.

Zelenskyy, however, didn’t share Trump’s optimism. Throughout the meeting, he interrupted repeatedly and openly criticized both Trump and Vance in front of reporters. Tensions escalated until Vance, visibly frustrated, fired back. The exchange turned the meeting hostile, and by its conclusion, Trump withdrew his offer. Rather than staying in Washington to resolve the conflict, Zelenskyy promptly left for Europe to seek support from the European Union.

As Glenn pointed out, Trump had carefully crafted this deal to benefit all parties, including Russia. Zelenskyy’s rejection was a major misstep.

Trump's generous offer to Zelenskyy

Glenn took to his whiteboard—swapping out his usual chalkboard—to break down Trump’s remarkable deal for Zelenskyy. He explained how it aligned with several of Trump’s goals: cutting spending, advancing technology and AI, and restoring America’s position as the dominant world power without military action. The deal would have also benefited the EU by preventing another war, revitalizing their economy, and restoring Europe’s global relevance. Ukraine and Russia would have gained as well, with the war—already claiming over 250,000 lives—finally coming to an end.

The media has portrayed last week’s fiasco as an ambush orchestrated by Trump to humiliate Zelenskyy, but that’s far from the truth. Zelenskyy was only in Washington because he had already rejected the deal twice—first refusing Vice President Vance and then Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It was Zelenskyy who insisted on traveling to America to sign the deal at the White House. If anyone set an ambush, it was him.

The EU can't help Ukraine

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After clashing with Trump and Vance, Zelenskyy wasted no time leaving D.C. The Ukrainian president should have stayed, apologized to Trump, and signed the deal. Given Trump’s enthusiasm and a later comment on Truth Social—where he wrote, “Zelenskyy can come back when he is ready for peace”—the deal could likely have been revived.

Meanwhile, in London, over a dozen European leaders, joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, convened an emergency meeting dubbed the “coalition of the willing” to ensure peace in Ukraine. This coalition emerged as Europe’s response to Trump’s withdrawal from the deal. By the meeting’s end, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a four-point plan to secure Ukrainian independence.

Zelenskyy, however, appears less than confident in the coalition’s plan. Recently, he has shifted his stance toward the U.S., apologizing to Trump and Vance and expressing gratitude for the generous military support America has already provided. Zelenskyy now says he wants to sign Trump’s deal and work under his leadership.

This is shaping up to be another Trump victory.