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Zelenskyy Goes Back Into the Lion's Den – The Monday AM Quickie 8/18/25

By Corey Pein —

Hope you had a restful weekend, folks. You're stuck with me all week, as Whitney's away. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

Zelenskyy Meets Trump Again Today, This Time with Backup

Pretty much everything you need to know about Donald Trump's fruitless, incompetent, insensitive, and ill-advised Alaska summit on Friday with Aspiring Tsar Vladimir Putin is contained in this viral photographic moment capturing a beaming Putin shaking hands with Trump, who looks like he just surrendered his lunch money. Trump literally rolled out a red carpet for the Russian dictator, clapping obsequiously as he welcomed Putin for a shared ride in his presidential limousine. While the spectacle was embarrassing for Americans, to Ukrainians it was horrifying and enraging, especially contrasted with the hostile reception Trump gave President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his last visit to the Oval Office.

Zelenskyy is hoping for a better result when he meets Trump again at the White House today – and this time, he'll have European leaders at his side when he arrives in Washington, DC. But Trump has made it clear which side he favors in Russia's brutal war – and it isn't the country defending itself from an invasion. Ahead of today's meeting, Trump pressured Zelenskyy, not Putin, for major concessions as a condition to bring Putin's war to an end.

Specifically, Trump posted on Truth Social last night saying Zelenskyy should accept Russian control of Crimea and abandon its effort to join the NATO alliance, two key Russian demands. Earlier in the day, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, a real estate billionaire with no diplomatic background, claimed the US is prepared to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, "but not from NATO – directly from the United States and other European countries."

What that might mean isn't clear. Zelenskyy is openly skeptical. Trump still isn't asking Putin to accept a ceasefire, which Ukraine demands. "The whole idea of heading for a full agreement favors Putin," a senior European diplomat, tells the Washington Post. "'Putin and his team know all the details' and Trump doesn't."

The sorry truth is that all Trump cares about is winning a Nobel Prize like his nemesis, Barack Obama. "Well, it's interesting because somebody said, if I get this settled, I'll get the, you know, the Nobel Peace Prize," Trump told Sean Hannity after his summit with Putin. "I said, 'well, I'm not involved in it' but what about the other six wars or whatever it is? I mean, those were big. Those were wars." Why do I get the feeling he'd be satisfied with a shiny gold replica from Taobao?

Three Republican Governors Send Hundreds More Troops to Occupy DC

The occupying military presence in Washington, DC, will nearly double thanks to Republican Govs. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, who pledged over the weekend to send up to 750 National Guard troops to the capital. The Washington Post calls the deployments "a major escalation" of Trump's military takeover of the city and cites "indications that the troops may soon be carrying weapons, a reversal of their initial orders."

Protesters staged anti-occupation marches over the weekend – and street parties. "You're ruining this country!" witnesses yelled at federal agents who tackled and arrested a food delivery driver on Saturday. "Liberals already ruined it," one officer responded, per the Post. Meanwhile, Democratic mayors beyond DC tell the Guardian that "they are ready to stand up for their cities, legally and otherwise, should Trump come knocking."

How Did Dallas Antifascists Catch Terrorism Charges?

The Washington Post takes a deep dive into the case of eleven people charged with attempted murder and terrorism for a July 4 "attack" on the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement concentration camp in Alvarado, Texas, at which an officer was wounded by gunfire. Many of those charged were rounded up at a house in Dallas that was home to a number of transgender women "who initially united around trans and queer identity issues," but eventually trained with firearms under 32-year-old Benjamin Hanil Song, a former US Marine Corps reservist and libertarian turned leftist gun club instructor.

Defendants' lawyers say the July 4 ICE protest was never supposed to turn violent. Phillip Linder, a lawyer for one defendant, Seth Sikes, tells the Post that "Song surprised everyone and started shooting." Prosecutors, who describe the incident as an "ambush," do not believe Song was the only shooter. Another defendant, Meagan Morris, says her jailers are denying her hormone replacement therapy meds. A disturbing case on many levels.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • More Than 400,000 Israelis Protest for End to War and Return of Hostages Meanwhile, the State Department halted all visitor visas for people from Gaza after unofficial national security adviser Laura Loomer questioned why sick Palestinian children were allowed to receive medical treatment in the US. via the Washington Post and the Associated Press.
  • F-ck Yeah, Bud!: Striking Air Canada Flight Attendants Defy Liberal Government's Back-to-Work Order "I absolutely reject the notion that our government is anti-union," Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said after invoking a section of the Canada Labour Code that lets her break a strike to "maintain or secure industrial peace." via the New York Times and CBC News.
  • No Socialist Makes the Runoff in Bolivia's Presidential Election for the First Time in 20 Years Rather than back the most popular leftist candidate, Senate president Andrónico Rodríguez, former president Evo Morales, who's been barricaded in a coca country compound to avoid arrest for fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl, told his supporters to deface their ballots. via the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the AP.
  • 'Finally, We’re Fighting': California Democrats Unveil Congressional Map to Counter Texas Gerrymander Meanwhile in Texas, state House Democrats who fled to Illinois are expected to return to Austin today, where the legislature will seek to form a quorum. via the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the AP.

SOME NUMBER

107,000

That's how many prison beds ICE plans to operate by the end of the year, after adding 41,000 this year, according to the Washington Post. A federal judge will hear arguments today about whether migrants held at the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" camp in the Florida Everglades have been denied Constitutional rights; civil rights lawyers cite horrifying incidents at the camp, such as a disabled detainee tricked into signing voluntary deportation papers in exchange for a blanket. Meanwhile, the Florida GOP scrapped a merch sale advertising another migrant camp, "The Deport Depot," after Home Depot complained.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

8/18: Today’s guest is... well, I don't know, I'll be honest.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Private Prison Profits Soar Under Trump's Authoritarian Crackdown | Whitney Wimbish

Read Whitney's article in The American Prospect in case you missed it. 

Michael Brooks Combating the Rise of Authoritarianism | Harvey J. Kaye

Hard to believe it's been five years. It's really nice to see Michael so fondly remembered by so many great people.  

PARTING WORDS

"They're baby boomers like me. They never make you laugh. They make you cringe."

-- Republican New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, speaking to the New York Times about the embarrassing "catch up" videos put out by rival candidates Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams, which unsuccessfully mimic the effortless style of Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.

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