The MeidasTouch Podcast - Zelenskyy Makes Power Move Trump Never Expected

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy outmaneuvering Donald Trump and Putin with the help of Canada, Europe, and Australia. Thanks to Fast Growing Trees: Get 15% OFF your first purchase at fastgrowingtrees.com/meidas when you use code: MEIDAS at checkout! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Ukrainian President Zelensky is showing strength, standing up to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Zelensky's like, all right, you want to see what a real strong man looks like? You want to see somebody who knows how to actually defend their country and is not afraid to go on the front lines? Bet. No more Mr. Nice Guy. And Zelensky did an interview over the past few days where he's like, and by the way, I predict Putin is going to die soon. Watch this. It depends, but it also depends on his years. He will die soon. That's a fact. And it will all end. That is, he can settle his matters before he, well, let's say finishes his completely, completely female voice. Well, safe and unsuccessful historical life. Ah, and that's what he's afraid of. As the Fox headline reads, Zelenskyy sensationally predicts Putin will die soon.

But was it so sensational? I think both in terms of Putin's health issues, as well as the fact that Putin really got to look over his shoulder because, yeah, those poll numbers may be high, but they're completely manipulated and the people really absolutely hate him. So this happened over the past 48 hours as well. A limo in Putin's motorcade blew up in Moscow. Putin wasn't in it. Nobody was injured. But I guess you can call it a spontaneous combustion. Now, Putin is already incredibly paranoid about every single thing. So that probably didn't help. And the timing of it probably didn't help. And so, for example, over the past 24, 48 hours as well, when Putin was going to arrive and be with certain troops of his, I want you just to watch what they have to do to ensure that the Russian troops aren't going to kill Putin. Watch as they search

one by one the troops themselves who are supposed to be defending Putin to make sure they don't have any weapons or things that may spontaneously combust when Putin's there. Now, as I mentioned at the outset of this video, Zelensky is showing what real strength looks like. Now, in my view, he's always showed that. But if it needs to be made clear visually to pathetic people like Donald Trump, Zelensky is like, but OK, I'll show you. So the latest from the Trump regime is they tried to throw a new mineral deal at Ukraine and by deal, it basically just means the United States wants to steal all of the rare earth minerals, minerals of Ukraine.

And so Ukraine is separately formed an incredibly strong alliance with reliable allies in Europe, in Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. And more on that in a moment. But Zelensky got handed this new quote unquote rare earth mineral deal where the U.S. would basically steal all of the minerals and provide no security guarantees. And so Zelensky held a press conference and he said, yeah, Ukraine received another U.S. variant of minerals deal earlier, pointing out that this is an absolutely different document also than the first one. Quote, and this is what Zelensky says. And shout out to Anton Gershkachenko for doing a great job documenting all of this.

There are a lot of things that were not mentioned. Also, some things appeared that let's say the parties had rejected before. In other words, you're not slipping in things into bullshit contracts and giving them my way. Donald Trump Zelensky also stated that Ukraine will not recognize all the previous U.S. military aid as debt. In other words, you're not going to hand us a crap deal and you're not going to try to leverage our suffering in Ukraine to steal from us. Watch Zelensky in his own words. received it during bilateral contact with Mr. With the Secretary of the Treasury, with Mr. Bassman, I asked her some questions.

She said, it's very difficult to comment. This is a completely different document. There is a lot of stuff that was not mentioned. And also, there are some things that, well, let's say, previously, the parties have already rejected it. If it's a question of debts, well, if this issue is raised there, we will not accept the debts, as I have said. At least we are talking about the past. Volodymyr Zelensky, if, again, I repeat, if there will be any perspectives, new support packages, then the United States of America can probably set certain conditions, understanding that this team will not do anything for us for free. Well, they officially say so.

Now, this from The Washington Post as well. Europe now seeks leverage as Trump negotiates with Russia on Ukraine, if you even want to call it that. The sub headline is European officials say sanctions on Russia, as I've predicted before, that when Donald Trump was talking about a deal in Trump's mind, that meant that Trump would extract. And I say Trump, not the United States. Trump would steal the rare earth minerals from Zelensky and put him in like some sovereign wealth fund to benefit Trump and then sell out Ukraine and give it basically to Russia. And I think Trump and Putin were discussing spheres of influence. The United States would want to annex and take over Canada and Greenland and Panama and areas in North America, give Europe to Russia and then give Asia to China. I think that's what was discussed. It's my opinion.

But then it seems consistent with what Trump's been saying about Canada and Greenland over and over again. But then Europe was like, are you serious? Okay, you want us to flex? Then we'll flex, Donald. We'll flex. Did you know Fast Growing Trees is the biggest online nursery in the US with thousands of different plants and over 2 million happy customers? They have all the plants your yard needs like fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering

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off at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code MIDAS, M-E-I-D-A-S at checkout, fastgrowingtrees.com code MIDAS. Now is the perfect time to plant. Use MIDAS to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. And so Europe's saying, okay, well, we're going to build our own troops and our own defense support, and we've got Ukraine's back. Now you got to contend with us. We're not going to let Ukraine just be taken over by Putin. This is coming to us next.

European countries plan to send a military team to Ukraine this week to determine how many troops would be needed for the reassurance force and where they should be stationed. The Washington Post reports, and they will confer with Ukraine on beefing up its army to hold a future front line. It's being reported that the European focus has also shifted to air and sea power, as army chiefs point out the limitations of a large troop deployment, and as other countries propose their capabilities for patrols in Ukraine's skies or in the Black Sea. I think that this cartoon here sums it up perfectly. A helping hand with friends like these, who needs enemies? And it is Trump's hand with MAGA on his shirt, shaking the hand of Ukraine, wearing a kind of a hospital bracelet SOS and a snake for our audio listeners. A snake is coming out of Donald Trump's jacket going towards Ukraine. As Jay from Kiev points out, now that Russia has spent over two weeks totally

ignoring the ceasefire that it claims it was okay with as it relates to energy infrastructure ceasefire, let's look at what Americans said the U.S. should do if that happened. 64% of Americans said increased U.S. weapons assistance to Ukraine. 42% says U.S. airstrikes on Russian assets in Ukraine. 30% would even be okay with U.S. troops being deployed in Ukraine. Now, part of Zelensky's diplomacy as well, working with his European reliable allies, was working with the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb. Good looking guy, athletic, great runner, triathlons. I mean, the guy's like basically an Olympian for those who don't know this guy.

So I think they thought that he would make a good impression on Donald Trump. So they send him to play golf with Donald Trump. And by the way, that seemed to work and that Donald Trump was impressed by the president of Finland. Kind of keep that going, keep Trump kind of entertained and occupied while the serious business is being done in Europe. Zelensky posted the following as well. Unfortunately, today has already brought more Russian strikes and shellings. The Cherkasy region attacked by drones. The Kershan region, artillery and drone dropped explosive on ordinary buildings and civilians in Donetsk region. Guided aerial bombs and drones and arterial.

It goes through the various regions. The geography and brutality of Russian strikes, not just occasionally, but literally every day and night, show that Putin couldn't care less about diplomacy. For several weeks now, there has been a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, and almost every day in response to the proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling, and ballistic strikes. Russia deserves increased pressure. All the tough measures that can break its capacity to wage war and sustain the system that's once nothing but war.

Sanctions against Russia are essential. More air defense for Ukraine is essential. More cooperation and unity among all partners is essential. Zelensky goes on to say, I spoke with president of Finland, Alexander Stubb. I thanked him for all the support Finland is providing. And we discussed ways to strengthen joint efforts with our partners to establish a lasting peace and security. Alexander shared details of his meeting with Trump. We are ready to work with our American partners as meaningful and quickly as possible to bring peace closer. There is also a common understanding that the ceasefire must be unconditional and reliable.

Right now, Russia continues looking for excuses to drag this war out even further. Putin is playing the same game he has since 2014. This is dangerous for everyone and there should be an appropriate response from the United States, Europe, and all our global partners who seek peace. We need to engage more with America, find ways to force Russia into peace, and work on security guarantees, which must become our next step after the ceasefire. Thank you for the support and for all the efforts to end the war and achieve a dignified peace. By the way, that's how it's done right there.

Just want to mention this as well. Greenland has a new prime minister, Jensen Frederick Nielsen, and he said the U.S. will not get Greenland. Trump says the U.S. is getting Greenland. Let me be clear. The U.S. is not getting it. We do not belong to anyone else. We determine our own future. We must not react with

fear. We must react with calm, dignity, and unity. It is through these values that we must clearly, distinctly, and calmly show the U.S. president that Greenland is ours. Just wanted to show that to you for another leader standing up against Donald Trump. And then Donald Trump does these reckless and absurd Trumpian things. I mean, reckless, absurd is the definition of Trump. This from the Financial Times. U.S. tells European companies to comply with Donald Trump's anti-diversity order, move signals pushed by American president to widen his ideological campaign abroad. The Trump administration has sent a letter to some

large companies in the EU warning them to comply with an executive order banning DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. According to the publication, the letter said that Trump's executive order applied to companies outside the U.S. if they were a supplier or service provider to the American government. Companies that are potentially exposed to the U.S. demands include aviation and defense groups, consulting providers, and infrastructure companies. The letters were written by U.S. embassy personnel in France, Belgium, and the countries of Eastern Europe. The letter was accompanied by a questionnaire to assess compliance with U.S. government

requirements in this area. A senior banker in Paris said he was shocked by the letter. Quote, it's crazy, but everything is now possible. The rule of the strongest now prevails. The French foreign trade ministry expressed concerns about the situation. According to the Financial Times, a number of companies have just chosen so far not to respond to the administration's demand. And I wanted to highlight that to you because I think what the banker said at the end, this is now the law of the strong or projecting strong. The world order of alliances and handling things a certain way based on what Trump has done

is gone. The peace and assurance and stability that the United States brought to the world since World War II is gone. And everybody recognizes that now, unfortunately. And so what you're seeing is the projection of raw strength. We're seeing Prime Minister Mark Carney deliver harsh messages to, and rightfully so, smacking down the Trump regime. We're seeing it with European meetings that are held as well, defense packs leaving out the United States. And ultimately it's like, okay, Trump, you want us to treat you like crap? You want us to treat you like the little piece of orange turd crap that you are? We'll do that. Because apparently when you do that, that's how Donald Trump's like, Oh, I guess then I must do something. Oh, that's the only way you get this idiot to

listen. So we're seeing that across the board right now. And you're seeing how Zelensky I think is masterfully and artfully navigating all of this as well. Well, let me know what you think. Hit subscribe and let's get to 5 million subscribers. Thanks for watching.