A Ukrainian soldier rides with a Javelin anti-tank missile during a military parade marking Ukraine’s Independence Day in Kiev, August 24, 2018. (Gleb Garanich / Reuters)

If the transcript — or whatever the right word is — is a nothingburger, I wonder what a somethingburger would look like. If the transcript is exonerating, what would incriminating look like?

The whole thing makes for fascinating reading — but here are some choice bits:

President Trump says, “. . . the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily, because things are happening that are not good, but the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine.”


Shortly after, President Zelensky says, “I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps. Specifically, we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.” (Javelins are anti-tank missiles.)

President Trump says, “I would like you to do us a favor, though . . .” He would indeed.


Let’s not be naïve. Let’s not play dumb. That would be an insult to Trump, for one thing. The whole atmosphere is soaked in quid pro quo. The conversation has undertones of the Mob. Anyone can see this, hear it. For heaven’s sake. We are not children. (Although I believe the meaning of the conversation would be understood by most children.) Neither are we politicians, most of us. We can think what is obvious and even say it.

A couple of hours ago, Trump tweeted out a statement from Fox News: “You don’t see a direct quid pro quo in this.” The word “direct” is doing some very heavy lifting there.


(Incidentally, when Ramesh Ponnuru saw the statement, he observed, “2020 slogan found.”)

Did the American president hold up military aid to Ukraine — aid that is desperately needed — in an effort to force the Ukrainian government to do some political bidding for him? If so, is that a big deal? As I laid out in a post below, what is a big deal to some is a small deal, or no deal, to others.

To be continued (whether we like it or not).