spidermike007

It would appear that that is the case, but I think that the entire world is heading for a divorce with the US. Trump is doing his level best to alienate every ally that we have, and all that's going to be left is Russia, China and North Korea. They seem to be his best friends anyway, even though he does moan a lot about China, he's likely in bed with Xi, just as much as he's in bed with Putin. It's a shame, as it's an 80-year alliance and it's a very necessary alliance. Europe as a whole is still quite powerful and quite dynamic and we need them. Especially as the creep cozys up to Putin.

This exemplifies all the qualities that Trump does not have and never will have. Virtually every quality he has is the opposite of honor, and the man is the opposite of a patriot. He is closer to a plague.

Oh, but I do blame the kid, and I blame the dad. They are both morally bankrupt and completely sold out.

Good one. Good on you. I too hope to be here the rest of my life I love it here and I do go back to the States a couple of times a year and after a month there it reminds me of the dozen reasons why I left, and life there is not getting any better it is declining by the day. Trump is making America worse, and he will never be able to follow through with his ridiculous slogan of making the place great again, that's 50 years in the past.

Well there's no question that Trump rushed it and Trump is partially to blame for the Afghan debacle and the manner in which we betrayed our Afghan assistants, translators and the people who trusted us. However even as a cantrost dem, I have always insisted that Biden could could have prolonged the withdrawal and done a much better job. Trump messed it up no doubt but Biden could have done something to try to repair a broken situation caused by the creep.

It is bewildering to see Mr Trump’s allies defending this debacle as some show of American strength,” the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board said on Saturday, noting that US aims of limiting Russian expansionism without the use of US forces was now “harder to achieve”. The outlet warned that “turning Ukraine over to Mr Putin would be catastrophic for that country and Europe, but it would be a political calamity for Mr Trump too. Friday’s spectacle won’t make Putin any more willing to stop his onslaught” after invading Ukraine in 2022. The New York Times assessed that the derailed Oval Office meeting pointed to Trump’s “determination to scrap America’s traditional sources of power – its alliances among like-minded democracies – and return the country to an era of raw great-power negotiations.” “The three-year wartime partnership between Washington and Kyiv was shattered,” the paper added. Some conservative political figures also hit out at their fellow Republicans Trump and Vance for their handling over the meeting. “I hate to say this … but the United States right now is not the good guys in this,” said Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican congressman from Illinois who once served on a House committee that investigated Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol in early 2021. “It is going to be incredibly hard to walk back from the kind of animosity we saw in that room today and to walk back some of those statements,” Republican strategist Karl Rove told Fox News. “It could have been done if cameras had not been running, but the only winner out of today is Vladimir Putin.” In fact when Pete Hegseth, Trump’s new defence secretary, gave a speech shortly after Vance’s in which he said the US would no longer be “primarily focused” on European security and that Ukraine would never be allowed to join Nato – appearing to simply hand Russia key concessions in the negotiations over ending the war without getting anything in return – he was condemned by the Republican senator Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate’s powerful armed services committee. “I don’t know who wrote the speech – it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,” Wicker said. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/20/trump-zelenskyy-putin-ukraine-russia?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Huge Don. Diminishing America and ensuring it will never be great again. Lost in space. Floundering in his alternate universe of self importance.

The mid terms are likely to be a blood bath for the GOP. Trump has over reached and is failing. His voters are getting angry, and losing their jobs. Inflation is climbing, not falling. And the US becomes less relevant by the day. What a goon squad.

The sacred oval office where Trump and Vance sell their souls daily.

By behave are you suggesting that he should have taken a knee, and kissed the ring, not talked back and been completely compliant? Just like Trump the bully insists? Behave, or else! Don't you know who I am, don't you know where you are? As my sycophantic assistant mentioned, you are in sacred territory, you are in the Oval Office, don't you get it? We are the two most powerful men in the world, behave like it!

Nothing edifies less in an ingenious conversation, than boasting and rattle. It is as it were the dropsy of the mind, and swells a man like a bubble into nothing at last.

Zelensky was baited by two men acting about as undignified as they could have possibly acted, ganging up on him like low-level New Jersey mobsters running an ambush on a victim. I think a lot of people are quite proud of Zelensky for speaking up and defending himself to a guy acting like a low-level street thug, and posing as a world leader. There's no doubt he was set up, and he was invited to the Oval Office for this exact purpose, and there's no doubt in my mind, nor the mind of hundreds of millions around the world that Trump never had a any intention of making a deal with this guy, unless the guy was willing to just completely drop his drawers, and surrender everything to King Don and Vlad the Impaler.

It is likely he doesn't sleep, he spends every waking moment figuring out ways to defend his political master. Tough job.

The positive takeaway from this oval office meeting is that if anybody thought that Trump had some negotiating ability, or if he was capable of playing fair with a leader of another nation, that thought has to be banished from their minds by now. It would appear that he is incapable of playing on a level playing field, he is an absolute bully, and he is a very very poor statesman and leader. He's an embarrassment to the nation and the world order. And Vance, wow what a performance. If anybody doubted that he was a complete butt kisser, and if anybody doubted that he had any ability or gravitas, this was the grandest of demonstrations that they were correct. What a nitwit. What a lightweight. What an empty suit.

The best one yet. From Cory Booker. Trump used shameful gangland tactics on Z. We are Americans. We are the most powerful nation on the planet. What defines us is not our power to dominate the weak. What demonstrates our character is not our capacity to traumatize the afflicted. What speaks our truth is not how we taunt, deride or belittle the embattled, broken or battered. We are: The country of the Marshall Plan The nation of The Berlin Airlift The nation whose leader said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” We are at our best when we are resolute against evil -- not when we kowtow to those who perpetrate it. We tell our truth when we defend the weak -- not when we do it only if we get protection money. We are America when our leaders call the dictators dictators and those who fight to defend democracy against tyranny what they are: heroes. Donald Trump and JD Vance didn't show strength today -- they showed weakness. They belittled a giant and showed just how small they are. They have the most vaunted titles in the world: President and Vice President of The United States of America. But the title doesn't make the man. And today both men brought shame to their titles. A weary warrior was before them. A beleaguered man who has lost thousands of his friends and comrades to the unjust and illegal aggression of an authoritarian leader. They showed no grace; no magnanimity of spirit; no diplomatic acumen. They were small bullies with big titles and they disrespected the history and legacy of the nation they lead. Today, Donald Trump acted more like Russia's Putin than America's President. Tell it like it is Cory. Speaking truth to massively corrupt and morally bankrupt, highly compromised power.

Though many sycophantic leaders within Congress and the Senate are defending Trump and Vance at this moment, some are speaking truth and some are facing reality. PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO "The Oval Office should be a place where we advance American values – not where we retreat from them. When the President and Vice President attacked President Zelenskyy today, they served to undermine the safety and security of America and our national security interests. I support a diplomatic end to this war. Achieving this requires an honest reckoning of who started the war and who the aggressor is, and to that question, there is only one answer: Russia." HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES IN A STATEMENT "President Trump and his administration continue to embarrass America on the world stage. Today’s White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator. The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin. "For three years, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have stood on the side of democracy, freedom and truth. Their success is in the national security interests of the United States. We should stand with Ukraine until victory is won." DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JACK REED, RANKING MEMBER OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE, IN A STATEMENT “Today’s spectacle in the Oval Office was a political ambush and a shameful failure of American leadership. “President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine are fighting for their very lives and existence. Unlike Donald Trump or JD Vance, I have traveled to Ukraine and seen firsthand the death and destruction wrought by Vladimir Putin against innocent people. To mock Ukraine and our allies is a travesty that only benefits Putin." “Furthermore, today’s cruel and callous display does great harm to U.S. standing in the world. Trump and Vance are communicating to the world that the United States is not to be trusted. Adversaries and allies alike will take note." "What we saw in the Oval Office today was beyond disgraceful," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., posted on X. "Trump and Vance berating Zelenskyy — putting on a show of lies and misinformation that would make Putin blush — is an embarrassment for America and a betrayal of our allies.They're popping champagne in the Kremlin." Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said, "Every time I've met with President Zelenskyy, he's thanked the American people for our strong support. We owe him our thanks for leading a nation fighting on the front lines of democracy – not the public berating he received at the White House." Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said, "That press conference was choreographed for an audience of one and he sits in Moscow. Once, we fought tyrants. Today Trump and Vance are bending America's knee. And that weakens us." Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Trump "chose the side of dictators." "What just happened in the Oval Office was one of the most embarrassing moments in American history," Quigley, from Illinois, exclaimed. "The world order that was established after the Second World War is dead." Two Republican congressmen had the guts to speak out against the creep. Only two. Moderate House Republican, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a major Ukraine ally on Capitol Hill, joined Democrats in defending Ukraine -- though he stopped short of criticizing the president or vice president. "Some want to whitewash the truth, but we cannot ignore the truth. Russia is at fault for this war," Bacon posted on X. Later, in an updated statement, he said, "A bad day for America's foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom." Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said, "It was heartbreaking to witness the turn of events that transpired in today’s meeting regarding Ukraine’s future. It is time to put understandable emotions aside and come back to the negotiation table. This can and will be fixed. A strong, sovereign Ukraine is essential for global stability in the face of Putin’s ongoing aggression."

He is one step below Dan Quayle. A true phony.

I completely agree with you and I think it's just further evidence that Trump is making America less relevant by the day. Just give it a couple of years. America's standing will diminish dramatically throughout the world. Just the price you pay when you get a circus huckster to run the country, instead of someone with leadership ability, and the ability to practice the art of the diplomacy.

He dresses like a man who is directing a war against a genocidal nation. Trump wouldn't know anything about that. Trump is the polar opposite of a patriot.

I agree and the disruptive PR that's out there about his level of corruption is not terribly convincing to me, as I consider Trump to be infinitely more corrupt than most other world leaders.

Fanytel business does that. But in addition I need a very dependable dedicated number that people can call me at here.

I contacted the Microsoft teams people and they said they would get back to me within a couple of days, but I sense you are right, that it's created for larger groups rather than a very small business. But I will report back here with information that I'm able to find out, once I talk to them.

OK thanks. I need a dedicated number that I can give out to clients and they can call me directly, which rings Into my Thai cell phone. Does anybody have any experience with Fanytel business? I've used that app a little bit and it does seem to work.

Agreed. A lot of his supporters keep saying changes are needed, things need to be shaken up, and an extreme approach might be the answer, but that certainly does not appear to be the case. This sort of shock approach that Trump uses to disrupt the world order does not seem to be working, and I think it will have a hugely adverse effect on US influence around the world, which appears to be declining by the day. I think on a daily basis the number of people and the number of nations that have affection and respect for the US is declining and goons like Trump, Vance, Hegseth and Rubio are entirely at fault for that.