The negative reaction to President Trump's public humiliation of Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House last month is intense and widespread. Though Trumpers claim to understand what the president was trying to achieve- something to do with U.S. pride or saving money- many feel he's more like a crazed person breaking out of an asylum with a sledgehammer, then bashing everything he sees, whether a federal agency or established foreign policy.
But the crazed person view, convincing though it is, does not tell the whole story. It does not explain what Trump is doing in the practical world. For a clue to what he's aiming for from the Russia/Ukraine war, look to Trump's main advisor and financial supporter, Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, who complains that the price of lithium (in plentiful supply in numerous locations in Ukraine), which he needs for Tesla batteries, "...has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into mining and refining directly." In the same week, Trump, with Musk at his side, lined up Tesla models in front of the White House and used the presidency to do a car commercial. Translating this sensitivity to corporate need into foreign policy, Trump switched sides in the Russia/Ukraine war, now favoring Russia, in an attempt to maneuver Ukraine's mineral deposits into Russian hands because, as he explained, "...it may be easier to deal with Russia." [Update, 3/30/25: Trump appears to have switched sides again, this time in favor of Ukraine, and is "very angry" at Putin, but it's a show. Russia will end up with significant mineral deposits in contested border areas.][Update, 4/30/25: A deal was signed today between the U.S. and Ukraine giving the U.S. access to rare earth deposits in central Ukraine, with the Ukrainian 50% share paid for by future U.S. military protection of those areas only, terms that were resisted by Ukrainian leaders, many of whom find them "unjust." Not affected by this deal are the up to 53% of Ukraine's rare earth deposits in border areas contested by Russia. Projection: Future U.S. deals for these border deposits will be with Russia, in effect ceding them the territory, in terms that Russia will not find "unjust."] In essence, the president is replacing rule by traditional government, which is accountable to some extent to voters and usually explains itself in terms of "right" and "wrong," with rule by corporations, accountable only to their boards and explaining themselves in terms of "profitable" or "unprofitable."
