Despite the reaction of other Western powers to Donald Trump’s rejection  of Volodymyr Zelensky’s arguments during the recent White House press conference, it is difficult to see how a solution can be found in the Ukraine without the USA.

In what he conceded was ‘great television’, Donald Trump  summarily dismissed President Zelensky’s decision to argue, without notice and in the presence of the world media, against a ceasefire and for an unlimited American security guarantee.

As usual, too many responses and comments were obscured by Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).

In addition, it later became clear that Zelensky was playing a foolish political game in Washington.

Realists should  remember that no American president has ever given a meaningful security guarantee to Ukraine, although Trump and Biden did give arms and, by way of contrast, Obama famously gave bed-sheets.

Despite their manifest failure to guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity, no one suggests Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama or Biden were working for the Kremlin.

So why do those suffering from TDS claim Trump is?

Even when the US and UK persuaded Ukraine to transfer to Russia all the nuclear weapons they inherited on the collapse of the Soviet Union, the only guarantee the US and UK gave in the event of aggression, as set out in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum,  was to agree to refer the matter for action to the UN Security Council.

But as everyone knows, any Security Council resolution is subject to a Russian veto.

Notwithstanding that, Ukraine still handed over their weapons. Had they not, they would today be very well defended.

Unlike most imperial powers, the United States has extended an extraordinary benevolence to those whom she defeats.

This is the theme of a 1959 British film, The Mouse that Roared.

I would not be surprised if Donald Trump has seen this.

Set in the minuscule Duchy of Grand Fenwick, it begins with the news that the duchy’s economy has collapsed as a result of an American company producing a cheap imitation of their sole export, their fabled Pinot Grand Fenwick wine.

Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) points out that no country that has declared war on the United States has ever gone hungry. On his advice, a Queen Victoria-like Grand Duchess (also Peter Sellers) declares war on the United States, and a 24-man army invades them.

After some entertaining twists and turns, the plot eventually goes to plan, peace is declared and Grand Fenwick prospers with American dollars.

Before the US became what Raymon Aron names ‘the imperial Republic’, and hoping to help the British defeat the Nazis even after they had spent all their reserves, Roosevelt established a way to do this by lending the British equipment through ‘Lend-Lease’. This had to be returned or destroyed.

But after the war, the Americans surpassed themselves with even greater generosity.

They went too far, making some recipients arrogant and giving away Americans’ wealth.

No one thanks the US for this.

Through the Marshall Plan in Europe and a similar program for Japan, the defeated countries as well as the allies were given vast amounts of money to restore their economies and make them wealthy and effective partners and competitors of the United States.

The result was the former enemies, Germany and Japan, made an enormous amount of money and, relying on American military protection from the communists, as well as adopting trade rules which advantaged them, thrived.

Clearly the Americans have been too generous, especially to the defeated powers. After all they had started the war.

No doubt President Trump sees this.

The US should have given loans which would not need to begin to be repaid until the defeated countries attained some reasonable level of wealth.

Finally, it is relevant to note the involvement of President Zelensky in the affairs of the United States.

In 2019,  President Zelensky declined President Trump’s request to investigate Hunter Biden’s curious appointment to the board of the major gas corporation, Burisma Holdings.

Zelensky declined to investigate, in one of the world’s most notoriously corrupt countries, whether corruption was involved.

President Trump’s request led to one of the unsuccessful impeachments against him.

During the recent US presidential elections, no doubt swayed by the propaganda that Trump could not win, President Zelensky  intervened, openly criticising  the choice of J.D. Vance as vice presidential candidate as ‘too radical’.

He was in turn criticised by Republicans when, during the campaign, he went to an ammunition plant in Scranton in Pennsylvania, a battleground state which Trump won, to thank President Biden for assistance to the Ukraine.

More recently, the New York Post’s Michael Goodwin cited a post on X by Democrat Senator Chris Murphy at 11.15 a.m., just before the White House meeting with President Trump.

Accompanied by a photograph, the post announced that President Zelensky had just met Murphy, confirming ‘the Ukrainian people will not support a fake peace agreement where Putin gets everything he wants and there are no security arrangements for Ukraine’.

Goodwin reported that the rare earths plan ‘went through several drafts… with a partnership to mine… the nation’s plentiful rare-earth deposits, with much of the proceeds going to help rebuild Ukraine’.

The purpose of the meeting was to sign the minerals agreement that he and Trump’s representatives had negotiated.

Goodwin says Zelensky twice refused to sign it after promising to, and thanks to Murphy, had no intention of signing it at the meeting.

This may explain his curious decision to debate the virtue of a ceasefire and a security guarantee in front of the media.

Goodwin argues that by listening to the ‘nakedly partisan’ advice of the Democrats instead of ‘dealing forthrightly’ with Trump, Zelensky betrayed his countrymen, leaving them without the ‘military and diplomatic protection’ that only America can provide.

It is clear the Democrats decided to do their best to sabotage the progress of finding an end to the war.

Zelensky is foolish not to deal honestly with President Trump. A peace is unlikely to be achieved without him.