• European leaders met for an emergency summit in London Sunday to shore up support for Ukraine and wrest control of ceasefire talks with Russia. The rushed gathering came on the heels of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous Oval Office meeting Friday, where he was publicly berated by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance for being ‘disrespectful’ and ‘gambling with World War III.’ While the Oval Office blowup shocked the Western world, Kremlin officials praised Trump for his ‘commonsense’ approach to ending the war. Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Obama, talks about how Trump’s actions benefit Russia and leave the U.S. weaker.
• And in headlines: Israel halted all aid to Gaza as the first phase of the ceasefire expires, Elon Musk and the DOGE bros sent federal workers another email asking them to justify their jobs, and Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the U.S.

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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Monday, March 3rd. I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day. The show that has lots of takes about the Oscars. Yes. I only saw like two of the movies that got nominated, but I still have takes, lots of takes. [music break] On today’s show, Elon Musk once again asks federal workers to justify their jobs. And Israel blocks aid from entering Gaza amid a cease fire standstill. But let’s start with the war in Ukraine and the absolutely shambolic Oval Office meeting on Friday between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that made millions of Americans ask what the hell? President Zelensky was in Washington to sign a treaty with Trump that would give the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for military support from the United States. But that didn’t happen. Not even close. Instead, we got Vice President J.D. Vance calling Zelensky ungrateful. 

[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] Have you said thank you once this entire time? 

[clip of Volodymyr Zelensky] A lot of times.

[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] No. 

[clip of Volodymyr Zelensky] Even today. 

[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] In this entire day, have you said thank you? 

[clip of Volodymyr Zelensky] Even today. 

[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America. 

[clip of Volodymyr Zelensky] [?] speaking about. 

[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] And the president who’s trying to save your country. 

Jane Coaston: For the record, Vance’s claim is false. Zelensky was in Pennsylvania this fall. He was there to thank workers at a munitons plant. Some Democrats were also there. But who cares about pesky facts? During Friday’s meeting, we got President Trump arguing, I think, that Russia wouldn’t break a ceasefire because they would never betray Donald Trump. But also nonsense in response to questions from reporters. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] What are you saying? 

[clip of unnamed person] She’s asking, what if Russia breaks the ceasefire? 

[clip of unnamed person 2] But what if they– 

[clip of President Donald Trump] What, if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? Okay. What if they break it? I don’t know, they broke it with Biden because Biden, they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia. Russia. Russia. Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony. That was a phone Hunter biden, Joe Biden scam, Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff it was a Democrat scam. 

Jane Coaston: Yes, that is the president of the United States. Tens of millions of Americans voted for him. This is all real. And this is how the meeting ended. Not with a mineral rights treaty, but with Zelensky leaving the White House and Trump, as always, focused on his real priority. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] All right. I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think, huh? This is this is going to be great television. I will say that. 

Jane Coaston: I am increasingly convinced that so much of what this administration does is for content, clicks and views. Unfortunately, the content this administration seems to want is bad for Ukraine, bad for the United States, and good for Russia, which is then bad for Europe. So not great. On Sunday, Zelensky and officials from more than a dozen European countries met to attempt to hammer out a proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The summit was led by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. During a press briefing, Starmer said that Europe and the UK would lead the fight, but they still need the United States. 

[clip of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer] With boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others. Europe must do the heavy lifting, but to support peace in our continent and to succeed. This effort must have strong US backing. 

Jane Coaston: But can they count on us? Or more accurately, on Trump? To talk more about the Oval Office debacle, the Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine and what Europe needs to do next. I spoke with Michael McFaul. He served as U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Obama, and he currently teaches at Stanford University. Michael, welcome to What a Day. 

Michael McFaul: What a day. Yeah, thanks for having me. 

Jane Coaston: So there’s been a ton of talk about Friday’s Oval Office blow up and what that meant for Ukraine. But what about Russia? How have the events of the last few days been viewed by the Kremlin and its allies? 

Michael McFaul: They couldn’t have asked for a better day. You look at their press. I read it so you don’t have to. They’re the Kremlin connected press are elated. Dmitry Peskov, the press spokesman for Putin, and he’s way more than that. He’s one of his closest personal aides. But I worked with him, you know, a decade ago when I was ambassador. He went on the record, and he doesn’t go on the record unless unless he’s being very precise and said something to the effect. We are pleased that the administration is now taking our view about the world events. So I know they were happy and expecting a foreign policy that was more supportive of Putin’s objectives in the world after President Trump was reelected. But I got a guess that never in their wildest dreams did they think they would be given so many gifts so quickly. 

Jane Coaston: And what about in the EU? We’ve seen a lot of European leaders expressing public support for Ukraine and Zelensky since Friday, but what’s the mood privately? 

Michael McFaul: Horror. Just absolute horror. I mean, even before this meeting on Friday, I was at the Munich Security conference a couple of weeks ago where the leading, you know, prime ministers and presidents and foreign ministers, defense ministers of all of Europe were there. And when Vice President Vance gave his speech, they were expecting a big, you know, an outlay of what what are the chief security interests and policies of the new Trump administration. And instead, he gave them a lecture about all their problems internally with democracy on the continent, in Italy and Romania. U.K., Sweden, I think, even got in there and it was appalling. And then to follow that up with this dressing down of a head of state, fighting for his life and his country’s existence in just the most humiliating way, just complete shock and a sense that America, at least under President Trump, is no longer part of the democratic world, is no longer part of the free world. They’ve now flipped to be on the side of Putin and the autocrats. 

Jane Coaston: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that the UK would spend about 1.6 billion pounds, which is about 2 billion U.S. dollars, to supply Ukraine with more air defense systems. He said other European countries would be willing to join a quote, “coalition of the willing,” but he didn’t give a ton of details. What did you take from the emergency Sunday summit in Europe? Are we being boxed out by our own allies? Understandably, in my view. 

Michael McFaul: I don’t know if we’re being boxed out. We just don’t want to be at the table. I think there has been the misframing of this whole set of talks about Trump, Russia, Ukraine from the very beginning. The framing is Trump wants to negotiate a deal. You know, he’s art of the deal, man. And he really he’s going to be the guy to bring peace. I don’t think he’s ever been serious about actually mediating a peace deal in Ukraine. I think what he’s really serious about is restarting his very bizarre relationship with Vladimir Putin. And this whole Ukraine thing is a sideshow. And, you know, Friday might just be the excuse to say, well, I can’t work with this guy. You know, knock yourselves out. And therefore, President Zelensky and the rest of, you know, the leaders of the free world, which happens to be in Europe now, not in the United States. They are making the moves to try to replace America, both, as you just pointed out, in terms of providing greater military assistance faster to Ukraine. And if there’s going to be a mediation between Russia and Ukraine, I think it’s much more likely now that the Europeans will be at the table and the Americans will not. 

Jane Coaston: Starmer says that the UK, France and Ukraine have also agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the US. What could that look like? 

Michael McFaul: I hope it will include just the terms of a cease fire and the kind of nitty gritty of what those look like traditionally, in other wars, but with one vital missing ingredient, you know, that’s called euphemistically, security guarantees. In other words, what will be added to a plan that will make it enduring? Remember President Zelensky, I think a lot of people have forgotten this, and most certainly the vice president didn’t seem to know this when he was scolding him for not trying diplomacy. But in 2019, right after he was elected president, Zelensky actually sat down with Vladimir Putin and they negotiated a cease fire deal. By the way, the Europeans were at the table there. We weren’t there. President Trump wasn’t there. He seems to forget that the war in Ukraine started in 2014, not 2022. It escalated in 2022, but they negotiated that cease fire. And three years later, Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine. So if you’re Zelensky, you don’t just want to sign another ceasefire deal that doesn’t have any way to enforce it. And that’s why that’s the vital missing ingredient from 2019 that will have to be part of this new deal that they’ve been discussing in London. 

Jane Coaston: Let’s say the US does walk away. The Trump administration is already threatening to immediately end all U.S. support for Ukraine. What would it take for Europe to fill that void, and could it? 

Michael McFaul: Well, they’ll try and they’re already trying. And there are certain weapons systems that they can provide and and fill in for us. But there’s another piece to this puzzle. It’s not just about the Europeans. I hope it’s also about the American people. Because just because Trump doesn’t want to do this or that, and he wants to throw the Ukrainians under the bus. My sense in reading the opinion polls is that the American people don’t support him on that. There was a Quinnipiac poll last week that said 81% of the American people do not trust Putin. Only 9% do. I mean, you follow domestic politics closer than I do, but I don’t see many 80% opinion polls in this country, how polarized we are right now. I saw the protests on the streets about Ukraine. My own minister spoke about how embarrassed he was in front of hundreds of parishioners about what happened in, in the Oval Office on Friday, that I’ve never, ever seen that happen. And so I think instead of just rolling over and say, oh, he’s crazy, what can we do? And just complain with our friends, we’ve got to do more than that. And there are times in our history where society has mobilized to push the White House on foreign policy. Think of the Vietnam War. They you know, protesters changed our policy there. So I just want to make the plea. Yeah, we hope the Europeans will fill the void. But I also hope the American people understand that we are not voiceless in this. We are not a monarchy. Yes, the president has a lot of power over foreign policy, but we have a role to play too. 

Jane Coaston: I also spend a lot of time reading conservative and right wing media, and I think I’ve seen two basic positions being put forward. First is the idea that this is somehow actually proof of Trump’s negotiating ability. 

Michael McFaul: Yeah. 

Jane Coaston: That his maximalist–

Michael McFaul: Yeah. 

Jane Coaston: Some might say unhinged demands of Ukraine are pushing Europe to put more money into Ukraine, ergo solving all of our problems. What’s your take on that? 

Michael McFaul: Well, they were already providing all this assistance before. Now they’re providing more. It is a myth that the United States has given $350 billion to Ukraine. That is not true. The Europeans are already ahead of us. But the second thing is. Yeah bulleyball works. Bulleyball diplomacy. You can get away with that, especially when you’re talking to countries like Colombia. Let us land our planes or we’re going to sanction you. The Panama Canal. You know, this kind of tough talk, but it eventually does two things. One, it doesn’t work with powerful countries. And even Zelensky wasn’t ready to take this kind of stuff. And I’m going to tell you it, you know, for the rest of the world and for the American people, it didn’t look like the president was achieving his objectives. But the second thing is, when have you ever seen him do that to Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? And that is the problem with his tactics, is he’s so tough with weak countries, and he’s so weak with these other countries, and eventually the weaker countries are going to get tired of it. They’re already tired of it, and they’re just going to pull away from us. And then the other powerful countries who we don’t do it with we’re going to look weak to everybody else. And in the long term, this is going to make the United States in a much  weaker position than where we are now. It’s not making America great. It’s making America alone. And this is not about Ukraine. This is about us. This is about our national security interests. And what I see President Trump doing today, I think, is undermining our national security. 

Jane Coaston: The second thing I keep seeing is kind of this vague support for Russia and for Putin. And you see that from some people who believe that Russia is some sort of bastion of so-called traditional views. You see that with the anti-LGBT laws, there have been a host of right wing figures that have tried to grow U.S. ties to the Kremlin over the last decade or so. But–

Michael McFaul: Yes. 

Jane Coaston: Trump specifically seems to think that he has a kindred spirit in Russian President Vladimir Putin, insofar as he keeps talking about how both he and Putin were victims of the investigations into Russia’s very real effort to influence the 2016 election. So at the risk of asking a very obvious question, can you explain why Trump moving the U.S. closer to Russia is risky, to put it mildly? And what is it that Putin actually wants? You’ve known him since the 1990s. What’s he thinking? 

Michael McFaul: Those are not obvious questions. Those are great, hard questions. Um. And let’s break them down a bit. First, the ideological affinity between the far right in America and Putin and Putinism is real. And you’re right. It goes back decades. There are some real paradoxes here, because, uh yeah, I’ve known Putin for a long time. The most important thing you need to know about Putin is he is a proud member of the KGB. And you know what the KGB was? The KGB was the muscle for the Communist Party that destroyed religion in the Soviet Union. That is antithetical to Christianity. And, you know, he’s done a lot of great, you know, smoke and mirrors about anti-LGBT stuff and all that. But let’s be crystal clear, folks, this is not a friend of Christianity. And the and the the Christian world that these MAGA guys claim to to support. But now to your last question. What does Putin want from us? He wants the destruction of America. He hates America. He wants to see us weak. He wants NATO to be destroyed. He wants us to become just a kind of middle power so that he can rise in power. That is his ultimate objective. And he sees Trump as an instrument to achieve that objective. And I hope that people who think harder about what’s in America’s interests will think twice before replaying that old game that didn’t turn out too well in the first Trump term. 

Jane Coaston: Michael McFaul, thank you so much for joining me. 

Michael McFaul: Sure. Thanks for having me. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul. We’ll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of Howard Lutnick] There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada and exactly what they are. We’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate. 

Jane Coaston: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports will go into effect tomorrow, though he did not confirm whether or not they’ll match Trump’s proposal of 25%. The US is also expected to impose another 10% tariff on Chinese imports Tuesday. That’s in addition to the 10% Trump imposed on the country last month. Lutnick on Fox News Sunday justified the tariffs, claiming that the US needs them to stop fentanyl. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Fentanyl continues to come into this country and continues to murder our people. And the ingredients are made in China. They’re sent to Mexico and Canada, and then they come and attack our country. And that’s got to end. 

Jane Coaston: I don’t think that’s how fentanyl works. A new study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that Trump’s proposed tariffs are expected to cost the average American household an extra $1,200 a year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant tried to calm consumers Sunday. In an interview with CBS, Bessant said that Trump’s tariffs will not worsen inflation. They probably will. And that Americans should not be worried about rising prices. Ho ho, they definitely should. And speaking of our trade relations with Canada, the Trump administration could soon impose high tariffs on lumber imports. The president signed two executive orders related to lumber over the weekend, one directing Lutnick to investigate whether or not lumber imports pose a threat to national security. Security? The order argues that relying on imported wood could hurt our economy and even compromise our armed forces. Because the U.S. military depends on wood for its construction needs. Whatever you say, Mr. President. Sure. Trump signed another executive order Saturday to increase domestic lumber production aimed at making the U.S. more self-sufficient. Canada is the largest supplier of lumber to the US. Tariffs on foreign wood would also weaken constructor’s ability to build new homes or rebuild homes in cities like Los Angeles that have been devastated by natural disasters in recent months. DOGE bag Elon Musk just can’t give it up. A second round of emails asking more than two million federal workers what they did last week were sent out starting Friday, because the first time was such a success and didn’t cause any confusion at all. A version of the email viewed by the Associated Press once again asked workers to respond with five bullet points, describing what they accomplished. There was pushback from several agencies, according to The Washington Post, NASA’s acting administrator warned staff if workers receive another such communication over the weekend, they should temporarily ignore it. And the State Department also sent out a note to employees Saturday instructing them to do nothing with the email, according to multiple outlets. But Musk is relentless. On Saturday, he tweeted, quote, “The president has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch.” Heeding President Musk’s orders, defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video Sunday, directing each member of the department’s civilian workforce to reply to the email from the Office of Personnel Management. 

[clip of Pete Hegseth] It’s a simple task, really, as as Elon said, as the president recognized in our first cabinet meeting. Just a pulse check. Are you there? Out to DoD civilians. 

Jane Coaston: As federal employees are being asked to justify their jobs, the Department of Government Efficiency is continuing with its cost cutting efforts. Dozens of government technology workers from the General Services Administration said they were terminated over the weekend. Israel announced it would cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza Sunday, after Hamas rejected a US backed proposal that would extend the first phase of the cease fire agreement. The fragile cease fire between the two sides ended Saturday, the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Negotiations for a second phase of the cease fire yielded no progress. Steve Wyckoff, Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, put out a last minute proposal over the weekend that would extend the cease fire through the Jewish holiday of Passover, which ends in late April. It calls on Hamas to first release half of the remaining Israeli hostages, and the rest would be freed after Israel and Hamas negotiate an end to the war. But Hamas officials said Sunday that the group would only agree to an extension if Israel sticks to the original cease fire deal, which includes a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during an address Sunday that the decision to cut Gaza off from aid was done with the Trump administration’s approval. Netanyahu added that there would be further consequences if Hamas refuses to accept the US proposal for an extension. The withholding of food and other crucial supplies to Gazans drew backlash from Arab countries. Egypt, one of the countries who helped broker the cease fire deal between Israel and Hamas, accused Israel of breaking international humanitarian law by weaponizing aid. President Trump signed an executive order Saturday designating English as the official language of the United States. This shouldn’t be too surprising, considering that within hours of Trump’s inauguration, his administration removed the Spanish language version of the official White House website. The executive order lets federally funded government agencies choose whether to continue making documents and services in languages other than English available. Essentially reversing a mandate from former President Clinton that required them to provide language assistance. It’s the first time in U.S. history the country has had an official language. But according to US English, a group that’s been advocating for this change. More than 30 states have already passed laws assigning English as the official language. The executive order says having an official language will, quote, “reinforce shared national values and create a more cohesive and efficient society.” Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that while English is the most widely used language in the US, people across the country speak more than 300 languages. And that’s the news. [music break]. 

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Get jazzed about the US Strategic Crypto reserve and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just about how this definitely isn’t just a kickback to some of Trump’s biggest backers, no sirree, like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and I’m probably not going to benefit from the crypto reserve, am I? [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Emily Fohr. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters, and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.