Pretty Bad is Pretty Good

From Alexander Vindman to Tom Nichols, there seems to be some consensus that the meeting between Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders could have been a lot worse. Or as Nichols explains: “Alaska is still part of the United States, America is still in NATO, and Kyiv remains free—and in this second Trump presidency, perhaps that counts as a good-enough day.”

+ “Diplomats pointed out that the remarkable spectacle of European leaders ditching their summer holiday plans to rush to Washington was prompted less by a rare opportunity to make peace than by the fear that Mr. Trump might attempt to bully Mr. Zelensky, as he did in a turbulent Oval Office meeting in February. This time, the fear was Mr. Trump would try to force the Ukrainian president into a one-sided, land-for-peace deal with Russia.” NYT (Gift Article): Europe’s Leaders Headed Off Giveaway to Putin, but Emerged Without a Clear Path. At one point, speaking about Putin, “Mr. Trump was overheard on an open microphone telling President Emmanuel Macron of France, ‘I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.'” (I’m not sure there’s a decibel meter on Earth that can measure how crazy that sounds…)