Judging Freedom - Larry Johnson: Can Zelenskyy Last Much Longer?

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

Larry Johnson: Can Zelenskyy Last Much Longer?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, March 3rd, 2025. Larry Johnson will be here with us in just a moment on how much longer can President Zelensky last. But first, this. Markets are at an all-time high. Euphoria has set in. The economy seems unstoppable. But the last administration has buried us so deep in debt and deficits, it's going to take a lot of digging to get us out of this hole.

Are you prepared? Lear Capital specializes in helping people like me and you grow and protect our wealth with gold. Did you know that during Trump's last presidency, gold rose 54% to a record high? If that happens again, that puts gold at $4,200 an ounce in his next term. Don't wait. Do what I did. Call Lear at 800-511-4620 or go to learjudgenap.com for your free gold ownership kit and special report $4,200 gold ahead. When you call, ask how you can also get up to $15,000 in bonus gold with a qualifying purchase. Call 800-511-4620, 800-511-4620, or go to learjudgenap.com and tell them the judge sent you. Larry, welcome here, my dear friend. It's 48 hours since the confrontation between President Trump and President Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon that captivated all of us, captivated the world.

What is your take on the fallout from that? Well, I think it represents a watershed moment for the Trump administration. They may have been planning at that point to figure out a way to try to sort of stay involved with Ukraine, but I think Zelensky's behavior was so outrageous that, you know, it really pushed not just Donald Trump, it pushed the entire team over the edge. Look, when you lose Lindsey Graham, when the little lady from South Carolina who's been to Kiev at least nine times, according to one video I saw the senator mention, and who's been an ardent supporter of Zelensky,

when he comes out and says, it's time for Zelensky to go, you know that the entire, it's gone from nighttime to daytime. It's been a complete reversal. Yeah, you'll appreciate these two clips from Senator Graham then and now. Chris, cut number eight. I want to tell you and your people, you're the ally I've been hoping for all my life.

Not one American has died defending Ukraine. You've taken our weapons and you've kicked their ass. And I'm very proud to have you as our ally. So what I think, complete, utter disaster. What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don't know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again. He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change. Senator Graham, credible. You're just using him as a paradigm, as an example of if he's

changed his mind, imagine how many other minds have been changed. Yeah, I mean, because there was, you know, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody in the Congress or in the Washington political elite, except maybe for the Ukraine's own ambassador to Washington, D.C., that had more fervor in supporting this whole effort in Ukraine. Look, this isn't about, you know, they say, oh, this is support for democracy. Ukraine's not a democracy. It's a dictatorship. Donald Trump got that right. They have jailed political opponents, shut down opposition media, shut down the church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and they've embraced neo-Nazis. The whole neo-Nazi movement is not just some minority offshoot. It's at the heart of all of this. But this isn't about promoting democracy in ukraine this is about destroying

russia this is about taking russian resources and controlling them by the west that's what this whole project has been about from the beginning and that's one of the reasons for such great animus directed at uh vladimir putin because he basically put a stop to it in July of 2000, called in the oligarchs and said, OK, basically, this raping of Russia, it's coming to an end. You're either going to, you know, stay out of politics, invest your money in the country, or you can get out or we'll put you in jail. It's a very stark choice. And as a result of that, today, Russia, its economy is strong. Its people are well-fed, well-employed.

The cities are amazing in terms of their beauty and cleanliness because they weren't wasting money in foreign military adventures that were killing other people. Tell me how the intelligence community, American, British, even Ukrainian, which is subject to MI6 and was, I don't know if it still is, subject to the CIA, how can they turn on a dime the way Donald Trump has turned American foreign policy 180 degrees, Larry? Well, that's the problem. I was talking with one of my CIA buddies, retired, but he's still in touch with people who are active. And he told me of a conversation he had with one friend because my friend was saying, you know, we just got to shut her down and start all over.

And the friend who's still working for years had said, oh, no, no, we can reform. And just this last week, the friend came back to him and said, you're right. This place needs to be burned to the ground. We need to start all over. The fact that you've got so many analysts compromised that refuse to speak the truth about what's going on, refuse to accurately report to the president or up their chain of command. And I understand why many didn't. They wanted to keep their jobs. They didn't want to risk being ostracized. They want to be part of the cool kids club. But what you have right now, in my view, is a corrupted analytical rank that are incapable now of suddenly being able to turn around and objectively report and tell the president,

tell the director of national intelligence, tell the director of intelligence what's going on. Why do you think Zelensky is afraid even to ask or reluctant even to ask for a ceasefire? Because the neo-Nazis that back him will kill him. It's that simple. I think he's more terrified of them.

He thinks at least with the West he can probably negotiate an escape. But, you know, we can pull up videos of these neo-Nazi characters, members of the Azov Battalion, just going around and beating people to a pulp. And they, you know, they embrace the writings and beliefs of Adolf Hitler. And, you know, they're not called neo-Nazi just because it's a pejorative term.

It's a descriptive term. And it is, you know, a lot of people like will argue, oh, how could Zelensky be supporting neo-Nazis? He's a Jew. being born and being able to be recognized in Israel as being Jewish by virtue of your mother is a far cry from saying that he was ever someone who practiced Judaism. He did not. And he was, you know, if anything, you could call him a token Jew. He's not really anything about practicing and observing the religious traditions of Judaism. The picture Chris put up, Chris, put it up again. This is Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States.

This is a series of photos, of course, of her during the confrontation between President Trump and President Zelensky, I think she knew that it was a disaster in the making for her own country. Obviously, she couldn't say anything. She's right there in the Oval Office with them. But she was attempting to hide her emotions by pinching the top of her nose like, is this really happening? Would Zelensky risk his own life if he were to say to Donald Trump, okay, Mr. President, get me a 30-day ceasefire and we'll see what we can work out? I don't think Putin would go along with it, but even if he asked for that,

would Zelensky risk his own life once he got back to ukraine oh yeah yeah the life said these um zielinski didn't get into office because he was such a great guy and a visionary uh philosopher and politician uh he was put there because he was one that could be manipulated could be controlled and the and the wealthy Ukrainian oligarchs that backed him, they had something else in mind. And if he crosses them, they will kill him. So, you know, that's, he keeps that in the forefront of his mind. But he's also, you know, well, he really has lost touch with reality. Do you think that President Trump and Vice President Vance understand what you just said? Because they seem to have been trying to extract from him statements or concessions, which, as you indicate, would result in his demise once he got home.

Well, if they didn't understand it on Friday, I think they finally grasped it by now. Would American intel, being truthful, rather than telling the president what they think he wants to hear, which is the intel that formerly existed, tell him or tell Tulsi Gabbard, please tell the president this guy cannot ask for a ceasefire or he'll be dead the minute he sets foot on Ukrainian territory. Well, knowing Tulsi, you know, not on a personal basis, but just having watched her do things and what she said over the years, I'm sure she's already having an impact. And that is, you know, it's like trying to turn a giant aircraft carrier with a small rudder. You know, it's going to turn a giant aircraft carrier with a small rudder. It's going to turn slowly, but I think the turning has started. And she, by virtue of overseeing the production of the presidential daily brief, is, I think,

taking a very active role to make sure that the very best intelligence is put in front of Donald Trump. And I know from friends who were involved with this process before that despite public claims that Trump doesn't read and Trump doesn't pay attention, what I was told by somebody who had been involved with briefings for both George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and then Donald Trump said that of the three, Trump was the one who was always the most engaged, asked the most probing questions, and paid the most attention. So if Tulsi's giving him good product, then Trump is paying attention to it. Here's, I mean, over the weekend, the European elites, the members of the EU or the members of NATO that wanted to give up a Sunday afternoon and fly to London did so.

And at the end of that meeting, I mean, this is remarkable. It may be you've seen it. It's actually delusional, but it's real. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Great Britain made the following statement. Chris, cut number one. Our starting point must be to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position now so that they can negotiate from a position of strength. And we are doubling down in our support.

Yesterday evening, the UK signed a £2.2 billion loan to provide more military aid to Ukraine, backed not by the British taxpayer, but by the profits from frozen Russian assets. And today I'm announcing a new deal, which allows Ukraine to use £1.6 billion of UK export finance to buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles, which will be made in Belfast, creating jobs in our brilliant defence sector. This will be vital for protecting critical infrastructure now

and strengthening Ukraine in securing the peace when it comes. Joe Biden wasn't so bold or so loopy as to say, hey, what I'm doing is helping the defense industry. How long will it take to make those missiles? Will there be a Ukraine left by the time they're manufactured? Does Sir Keir most respectfully even know what the hell he's talking about? Well, simple answer is no. Look, this was the meeting of the Chihuahua Club. The toothless Chihuahua Club. All these European countries had assembled together to move

imaginary armies around. And notice what he said. Oh, boy, we're giving a $2 billion loan. Loan? You mean, it's like your credit card company shows up and says, hey, judge, man, here's some checks. Write them.

We're only going to charge you 25% interest. Well, that's the equivalent of what this group of European losers are doing. You know, it gets even worse, Larry. I'll play another clip for you. And maybe you've seen it, you've certainly heard about it, in which he says the UK will put boots on the ground and planes in the air. It's almost inconceivable to me that the UK boots on the ground would survive 24 hours, but I'll let you comment on it. This one is even more delusional than the clip we just ran, most respectfully. Chris, cut number two. We will go further to develop a

coalition of the willing to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee the peace. Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now, with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this. With boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others, Europe must do the heavy listing. But to support peace in our continent, and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing. We're working with the U.S. on this point after my meeting with President Trump last week.

And let me be clear, we agree with the president on the urgent need for a durable peace. Now we need to deliver together. Yeah, he's not going to get it. And notice he said, yeah, we'll put boots on the ground and planes in the air, but we must have. We must have the backing and support of the United States. Well, they don't have the backing and support of the United States. And newsflash, they're not going to get the backing and support of the United States.

The United States is now done with Ukraine. People are planting Ukrainian flags out in their yards. They're not doing marches in solidarity. They're not, you know, not as long as it takes. You know, that's gone. That's done. Here's, this is a little amusing. This is Marco Rubio in 2015 and Mike Waltz as recently as 2022 with some voiceover.

You can't make this up by John Bolton. Chris, cut number nine. Russia is governed today by a gangster. He's basically an organized crime figure who controls a government in a large territory. There's no other way to describe Vladimir Putin. I think this entire invasion has been irrational. It's hard to understand what is actually being fed into Putin in terms of intelligence reporting and how much of his own propaganda he believes. I am concerned that the president, vice president of the United States, have sided with the aggressor, with, as Mike Waltz was just saying there, somebody who's trying to recreate the Russian Empire, something he's been very clear about since 2005 at least.

And now you have, sadly, both Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio in the administration. This is the point when somebody does 180 degrees from understanding American allies to backing America's adversaries that you resign. Mark, are you saying Marco Rubio should resign? And Mike Waltz, this is really the time to do it. So John Bolton, no surprise, for a year tried to feed into Donald Trump's ear, Putin wants to recreate the Soviet empire, Putin wants to recreate the Soviet empire, offering zero evidence for that absurd conclusion, from which springs Bolton's views on foreign policy. Yeah, and what was that empire? I mean, we always hear this empire.

Remember all those military bases that the Soviets had scattered around the globe? No, that didn't exist. They didn't have 700 military bases overseas. We did, the United States. Russia wasn't invading and fighting in Vietnam. Russia wasn't invading and fighting in Somalia. Russia wasn't invading and fighting in Syria. In Syria, they were invited in by the government to come to their assistance because of U.S.-backed insurgents. You know, you go after country after country after country where people have been killed by U.S. military personnel, not by Russian military personnel. The Russians have stayed at home, and they are territory on its immediate borders, just as the United States, you know, make sure that we don't have hostiles in Canada and Mexico.

Not to leave the impression of Marco Rubio with what he said a few years ago, here's what he said earlier today. Cut number seven. Why is it OK to call President Zelensky a dictator, but not, as you say, call Vladimir Putin names? Listen, we've spent three years calling Vladimir Putin names. That's not the point. The point that we're at now is we're trying to get the man to a table, the Russians. And I've said from the very beginning, maybe they don't want a deal either. We don't know, but we haven't talked to them in three years, but maybe they do. The point is, do we want to make, I would ask everybody this, if there are no negotiations, what is the alternative? Another four years of war,

another three years of war in which the United States and Europe continues to pour billions of dollars into a war in Ukraine. Is that the alternative? I've asked every foreign minister I meet with, tell me your idea of how this turns out. Most don't have a plan. A few have said, well, let's give them another year of fighting. A year from now, a year later, after another year of death, another year of destruction, then maybe Putin will be ready to negotiate at that point. That doesn't sound like a good plan to me, and it certainly is not a plan the president's on board with. My bad. That was not this morning. That was obviously yesterday on one of the talk shows. People, you know, he works for Donald

Trump. He's the secretary of state appointed by Donald Trump. And his job is to put into place the foreign policy of Donald Trump. And Donald Trump took the chance on somebody who profoundly disagreed with him four years ago and now agrees. All Rubio had to do is just give a factual answer. Yes, Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. Zelensky is a dictator. A, Putin has had democratic elections. There were opposition political parties. People were free to vote. He won the election. Zelensky canceled elections. Zelensky will not allow elections. And Zelensky is locked up all, not just some, all political opponents and banned all opposition political parties

and shut down all opposition media. That's the definition of a dictator. Putin's done none of that. And I know firsthand from having traveled to Russia and been in at least two different cities, people aren't walking around paranoid looking over their shoulders. They don't have to look both ways to see if someone's listening before they talk. It's free.

It's open. It's prosperous. And it is the one thing they don't understand, though, with Putin is he keeps his agreements. He is, you know, this is not necessarily to his credit. He is a lawyer. So, you know, but among the lawyers, he appears to be a decent lawyer, the one that says, hey, this is what we've agreed on. This is, and we're going to live by those agreements.

Almost as if he heard what you said about his presidency. Here's President Zelensky on elections. This is two days ago on March 1st. Chris, cut number five. If I'm to be changed and I'll hear, how can I put it, what's happening with the support to change me, Звичайно, мене просто не можна змінити. Тобто, мало просто панекти виборів. Треба мене ще не допустити. Тобто це трішки складніше.

Ви думаєте, що треба домовлятися зі мною? А я сказав, що я міняю НАТО. a bit more difficult. They have to negotiate with me. And I said that I'm exchanging it for NATO membership. And then it means that I fulfilled my mission. There is NATO. It means I

fulfilled my mission. I don't know where he was when he was saying that. It was Saturday. I think he was where he was when he was saying that. It was a Saturday. I think he was in Great Britain, but it's such a nonsense, Larry, if he even has the slightest inkling that a Ukrainian membership in NATO

could somehow be the outcome of all of this. Yeah, yeah. NATO, that was sort of the first um sign gesture that trump administration made to the russians to show they're serious about trying to bring an end to this war was when hegseth was at the NATO Defense Ministers Conference, I believe it was held at Ramstein, you know, two weeks ago. Right. And he said very clearly, look, Ukraine is not going to be part of NATO, non-starter.

And then Trump reiterated that. So taking NATO off the table for Ukraine again. That's been that was part of this Let's call it this Western Cabal plan for years. They they were using NATO as a wedge to try to take down Russia to break Russia up to dismember it and then take all of its resources for themselves. And this has been, you know, it's been actively pursued since at least 2008.

And in the aftermath of the start of the civil war in 2014 with the signing of the Minsk II agreement, it was in the aftermath of that signing that the intensity of U.S. and NATO military support and training for Ukraine took off because they were envisioning, we're going to create this proxy force in Ukraine that will be capable of defeating Russia because what happened in 2014 and into early 2015 is the militias in Donetsk and Luhansk actually defeated the Ukrainian army at the time.

Larry Johnson, always a pleasure, my dear friend. We'll see you again at the end of the week. All the best. Okay, thank you. Thank you. And coming up later today at one o'clock, Colonel Douglas McGregor. At two o'clock, Scott Ritter.

At three o'clock, Colonel Douglas McGregor. At 2 o'clock, Scott Ritter. At 3 o'clock, excuse me, at 4. At 4 o'clock, the always worth waiting for, Max Blumenthal. Justin Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.