"I want to get to heaven if possible. I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I hear I'm at the bottom of the totem pole. If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons."

Wow. President Trump tells Fox News he hopes his efforts to end wars will bring him closer to Heaven.

This is powerful. Watch:

"I just want to end it. If i can save seven thousand people a week from getting killed, that's pretty good. I want to get to heaven if possible. I'm… pic.twitter.com/jcrQy4ixtT

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 19, 2025

"I am totally convinced that if Russia raised their hands and said, 'We give up, we concede, we surrender..."

"... we will GIVE Ukraine and the great United States of America, the most revered, respected, and powerful of all countries, EVER, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and everything surrounding them for a thousand miles, the Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners would say that this was a bad and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump, one of the worst days in the history of our Country.' But that’s why they are the FAKE NEWS, and the badly failing Radical Left Democrats. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!"

Trump is on a roll on Truth Social this morning. That may be his best written work — most absurdly comic and yet too true — maybe ever.

"We are ready to put UK boots on the ground in part to reassure Ukrainians but in part to secure safe skies, safe seas and regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces."

"It is obviously welcome that President Trump has paved the way for vital US security guarantees.... The quicker you can bring about an end to the conflict and translate that into a lasting peace the better. We applaud President Trump’s efforts to bring about an end to the killing. We want to see an end to the killing if you can bring about an end to the killing and a sustained peace in one go all the better."

Said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, quoted in "Ukraine-Russia latest: Putin ‘should not be rewarded’, Zelensky says/Ukrainian leader has denounced ‘cynical’ Russian attacks before his meeting with Trump in Washington, which have killed at least nine" (London Times).

Let that stand in for all the many headlines I'm seeing this morning about the White House meeting today. It's more optimistic than most. There are reasons to go negative before the meeting, but I think it's bad form. 

"So when we've met, when I came out of the plane and I said, 'Good afternoon, dear neighbor. Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive.' I think that is very neighborly."

"I think that's some kind words that we can say to each other. We're separated by the strait of Bering, though, there are two islands only between the Russian Island and the U.S. Island. They're only four kilometers apart. We are close neighbors, and it's a fact."

Said Vladimir Putin, quoted in "Here's the transcript of what Putin and Trump said in Alaska." 

I pulled that quote because it's very near the beginning and because it reminds me of "I can see Russia from my house and because "to see you alive" might be what he'd say if he had been behind the 2 assassination attempts.

But I want to read it all. I'm going to live-blog my reading of the transcript here. Sorry I missed the live event last night, but at the last second we realized we could get access to the baseball game by submitting to the plot to force us to subscribe to Apple TV. The home team extended its winning streak to 13. We're joking please, please it's too much winning, we can't take it anymore.

On to the transcript. Putin continues:

"I thank everyone who is helping."

We had a long and substantive conversation with @POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump.

Ukraine reaffirms… pic.twitter.com/64IPVhtFaB

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2025

"President Trump’s tone after the call with President Putin was once again emollient."

"Rather than punishing Russia with the 'bone-crushing' sanctions some had hoped for, he hailed an 'excellent' call and said Russia had a 'tremendous opportunity' to do business with the US if the war ended. Even better for Putin, he also appeared to backtrack from US involvement in talks, speculating that they could be hosted by the Pope in the Vatican and saying it would be 'negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be.'"

The London Times reports.

What role have popes played in bringing about peace? Some examples, here, at Grok.

"I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him. I don't quite understand."

Said Joe Biden, quoted in "Five takeaways from Biden's BBC interview" (BBC).

"President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Thursday that he was open to the idea of a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine..."

"... but that a number of 'questions' must still be resolved. His remarks, at a news conference in Moscow, signaled he was in no hurry to go along with a truce and came as U.S. officials were in Russia to discuss the cease-fire proposal that Ukraine has already agreed to.... It was the first time that Mr. Putin had publicly addressed the cease-fire offer. He is expected to meet with President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, later today — and Mr. Putin said he may soon speak with the American president...."

NYT reports.

"You are a traitor"/"Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do."

That's Elon Musk and Mark Kelly, quoted in "Elon Musk calls Sen. Mark Kelly a 'traitor' over his social media posts in support of Ukraine/Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot, responded to the tech billionaire’s remark by saying 'he’s not a serious guy' and should 'go back to building rockets'" (NBC News).

Musk's accusation was a reaction to this:

   

And this, tweeted by Kelly: "Donald Trump is trying to weaken Ukraine’s hand and we are owed an explanation. If Putin gains ground he won’t agree to a ceasefire and will eventually threaten a NATO ally and this puts American troops and the American people at risk."

"It's been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted stalemated conflict. And frankly, it's a proxy war..."

"... between nuclear powers — the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia. And it needs to come to an end. And no one has any idea or plan to bring it to an end. The plan of the Ukrainians up to now — and their allies on Capitol Hill and people you talk to in other countries — is let's just keep giving them as much as they need for as long as it takes. That's not a strategy." 

🚨Update: Secretary Marco Rubio stated - Ukraine conflict is a ‘PROXY WAR’ between US and Russia; Ukraine has no plan to end the war!! pic.twitter.com/n9L01s5bIh

— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) March 6, 2025

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a new framework for a partial ceasefire with Russia on Tuesday..."

"... posting on X that Kyiv would be willing to release prisoners and agree to a truce that would ban long range attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure. The offer came after the Trump administration declared that Zelensky was not ready for peace and froze the U.S. military assistance that Ukraine has been relying on to battle the Russian invasion. 'Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the U.S. to agree a strong final deal,' Zelensky wrote. The post, which made no mention of halting ground operations on either side, came after President Donald Trump’s decision to pause aid sent shockwaves across Ukraine and Europe...."

WaPo reports.

The post:

I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.

None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 4, 2025

"US Vice President JD Vance was told to 'wind his neck in' today after branding Britain 'some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.'"

That's the first line of an article in The Sun called "VANCE SHAME/Fury as Trump’s No2 JD Vance mocks UK for ‘not fighting a war in 30 years’ – forgetting Afghanistan & Iraq."

That calls our attention to something Vance said on Fox News: "If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years."

I don't know if that "random" refers to the UK, but apparently some people in the UK are hearing it that way. And the UK is hardly a random country. But "random" is bandied about humorously these days. In America. Do the Brits know that?

Insulting him back, the random Brit who is the source of this quote doesn't seem to know that Americans don't say "wind his neck in." The effort at an insult strikes me as funny because, not being used to the phrase, I'm forced to try to picture it concretely. 

The source of the quote is a Former Veterans Minister who served in Afghanistan, and the full quote is: "Vance needs to wind his neck in. Show a bit of respect and stop making yourself look so unpleasant."

Vance looks especially unpleasant in my mental image, where he has an extremely long and thin neck attached to a fishing reel.

"Designer Behind President Zelensky’s White House Outfit Defends the Choice."

A headline at Women's Wear Daily.

Who knew Zelensky had a designer?

I ran across that article looking for confirmation of something I happened to see — here — in The Washington Post: "Even after Zelensky refused a White House request to wear a suit, Trump praised his outfit, saying, 'I think he’s dressed beautifully.'"

Zelensky was asked — in advance?! — to wear a suit?! This is the first I'm seeing that.

From Women's Wear Daily: "Zelensky turned up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue wearing a three-button knitted long-sleeve polo shirt from [Elvira] Gasanova’s menswear label Damirli, as well as pants from the collection. She had made a special version for Zelensky with the emblem of a tryzub, a shield with a trident that is the coat of arms that Ukraine adopted in February 1991."

The above-linked WaPo column is "Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump — or resign/Zelensky's stubbornness has badly hurt Ukraine" by Marc A. Thiessen. Excerpt:

A staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world....

I'm reading "France’s prime minister tears into Trump’s attack on Zelenskyy as a staggering show of 'brutality'" (AP), which quotes French Prime Minister François Bayrou"

"On Friday night, in the Oval Office of the White House, a staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world, marked by brutality, a desire to humiliate, with the goal of making Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fold through threats. President Zelenskyy did not fold and I think we can show him our appreciation."

Meanwhile, at The Washington Post, "Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says/Tension between the United States and Ukraine, laid bare in the Oval Office meeting of Trump and Zelensky, is seen in Moscow as a 'gift.'"

"It feels worth noting that in this moment, Zelensky decides to call the vice President JD, not Vice President Vance."

Observes Peter Baker in this morning's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast — "The Fallout From Zelensky and Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown" (audio and transcript at Podscribe).

We hear the recording of Zelensky, with new focus on the dismissive "JD": "What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What? What you, what you, what do you mean?"

Baker continues: "Perhaps history will not note this as an important moment. I noted it."

Yes, the re-listen affected me.

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Maybe not. Maybe not. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. You've got to make a joke. You know... legalize comedy! Legalize comedy! Come on, legalize it!"

"Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said Sunday that he would work with the leaders of Ukraine and France on a cease-fire plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine...."

"Mr. Starmer told the BBC on Sunday that he had spoken to President Trump by phone a day earlier. 'I’m clear in my mind he does want lasting peace, he does want an end to the fighting in Ukraine'.... The prime minister said that he, Mr. Zelensky and President Emmanuel Macron of France had agreed they 'would work on a plan for stopping the fighting and then discuss that plan with the U.S.' Any peace agreement 'is going to need a U.S. backstop,' Mr. Starmer added, saying that British and U.S. teams were discussing the idea.... Since Friday, European leaders have lined up behind Ukraine and lauded its embattled president. Mr. Zelensky is also set to meet King Charles III later on Sunday."

The NYT reports.

What will Zelensky wear for his audience with the King? He's met with the King twice before — February 8, 2023 and July 18, 2024 — and both times he wore those dark green "wartime" clothes and not a suit.  Zelensky has met with other European royalty —Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia (Sweden), King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway), King Philippe (Belgium) — and each time, he wore the "wartime" outfit that he was called out for wearing in the Oval Office.

Of course, royalty is a game played through outfits. But Trump has his outfits too. Indeed, questioned about his military getup, Zelensky said that after the war, he could wear a "costume," and by "costume," he meant a suit: "I will wear a costume after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours, maybe something better."

But enough about clothing, what do we think about Europe stepping up to make the peace deal? Who will give Trump credit for making that happen and for, more generally, requiring Europe to take charge of the defense of Europe? Whether the Europeans can close a peace deal is another matter, but they concede in advance that any peace agreement "is going to need a U.S. backstop." Could they, instead, just flow endless money into Ukraine? They've counted on our money for so long. 

"To Trump's team, it was three strikes — and now officially out of favor — for Zelensky. "

"In their eyes, Zelensky already had two strikes against him when he sat down with Trump and Vance.... Strike 3 against Zelensky: He disagreed publicly with Vance, who accused Zelensky of trying to 'litigate' his case before the media.... Strike 2 came just before Friday's meeting, when Zelensky arrived at the White House without a suit or jacket, as requested.... Strike 1... came Feb. 15, when Zelensky publicly trashed a proposed mineral rights deal with Ukraine that he privately had discussed the day before in Munich with Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The plan Friday was for Zelensky to sign a new version of the deal as part of a plan to end the war. That didn't happen.... The meeting was largely uneventful until Zelensky addressed Vance directly and asked how diplomacy would work with a lying killer like Putin. 'No one expected Zelensky to walk in there and act like such a petulant child, constantly frowning and shaking his head and DJT and JD had had enough,' one Republican close to the administration told Axios via text...."

From "'Three strikes': Inside the Trump-Vance fury with Zelensky" (Axios).

Trump and Vance get remarkably intense with Zelensky.

ADDED: The scene is described by Peter Baker for the NYT: "Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in its war with Russia and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictate. With voices raised and tempers flaring, Mr. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine altogether if Mr. Zelensky did not go along. Talking over the Ukrainian leader, Mr. Vance told Mr. Zelensky that it was 'disrespectful' for him to come to the Oval Office and make his case in front of the American news media and demanded that he thank Mr. Trump for his leadership. Mr. Trump jumped in and told the Ukrainian leader, 'You’re not really in a good position right now” and that “you’re gambling with World War III.' 'You’re either going make a deal or we’re out,” Mr. Trump added. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.' The exchange in front of television cameras was one of the most dramatic moments ever to play out in public in the Oval Office...."

AND: "This is gonna be great television — I'll tell you that."

"Ukraine on Saturday was seriously considering a revised American proposal for its vast natural resources that contains virtually the same provisions..."

"... that Kyiv previously rejected as too onerous, according to a draft document of the new proposal. Some of the terms appear even tougher than in a previous draft. Though Ukraine had not finalized the deal as of Saturday afternoon, its assent to the terms would represent a capitulation to American demands after a week of intense pressure from President Trump. The American president views access to Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth as necessary repayment for the billions the United States has provided Kyiv for its war against Russia...."

The NYT reports, in "U.S. Pressing Tough Demands in Revised Deal for Ukraine’s Minerals/The Trump administration wants revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources, according to a draft obtained by The New York Times, with no security guarantee in exchange."