The Art of the Setup
As always, I attempted to bring about, by the peaceful method of making proposals for revision, an alteration of this intolerable position. September 1, 1939, Hitler delivered a speech at Reichstag hours after his troops invaded Poland. The speech was propaganda created from a collection of bad faith attempts at peace and inflationary tales about the treatment of Germans by Poles and the rest of the world, following the end of World War I. Deceiving his audience into believing the Reich could not remain inactive, justifying the unprovoked invasion. In the weeks following his inauguration, Trump has been laying down similar groundwork.
When Ukrainian President Zelenskyy expressed his displeasure over being excluded from the negotiations between the US and Russia Trump said, “you should have never started it.” Propagating the Russian lie that Ukraine is at fault for the war, claiming that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian speakers in Donbas. The International Court of Justice found this to be untrue, nonetheless Russia pushes this lie, and Trump is willing to acquiesce. There had been a similar talking point of the Nazi propagandists throughout the 1930’s. The purpose was and is to make the victim look like the aggressor so the real aggression seems like self defense. At the start of the war 5,000-6,000 ethnic Germans were killed in Bromberg, but the German people were told it was 58,000. The Third Reich dubbed it “Bloody Sunday”. Trump is known for this inflationary tactic, telling the American people that we have spent 300-350 billion dollars on Ukraine aid, double what we’ve actually spent. He falsely states that the US has spent more than Europe, this is not just a petty exaggeration. If Putin were to push west, the seeds of resentment towards Europe will have already been planted into American minds. Along with the idea that the aggression was the fault of Europe, that they didn’t do enough to protect themselves when they had the chance.
It is impossible to demand that an impossible position should be cleared up by peaceful revision and at the same time constantly reject peaceful revision. In 1934, Hitler signed the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact for two reasons, to prevent Poland from forming a military alliance with France and so he could say he tried peace. Hitler didn’t want Poland and France to form an alliance because he knew he was going to invade Poland and he didn’t want to fight a war on both sides. In June 2024 Putin made it clear he would not consider a ceasefire unless Ukraine “officially renounces plans to join NATO”. Putin knows he will break the ceasefire and he doesn’t want to wage war with the NATO allies. Just before the invasion of Poland, Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Behind closed doors this pact mapped out how the soviets and the Nazis would divide up Poland. The same way the US and Russia plan to strip Ukraine for parts and take what they want. Ukraine has incredibly valuable land, rich in rare earth minerals, and it’s Putin’s gateway to the rest of Europe. Deals they know Zelenskyy won’t accept, Moreover, Poland was not prepared to settle the Corridor question in a reasonable way which would be equitable to both parties, but they’re being proposed anyway so Trump and Putin can throw up their hands and say they tried.
It is a lie when the outside world says that we only tried to carry through our revisions by pressure.
I made one more final effort to accept a proposal for mediation on the part of the British Government. They proposed, not that they themselves should carry on the negotiations, but rather that Poland and Germany should come into direct contact and once more pursue negotiations. This final effort was not one for peace. On August 29, 1939, Hitler gave British Ambassador Sir Neville Henderson his demands, the city of Danzig and the corridor. He also wanted Poland to send a plenipotentiary for negotiations. Britain and Poland refused. But it wouldn’t have mattered. On August 23, 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed and on August 25, 1939, a German battleship sailed into the port of Danzig. The boat was there innocently to celebrate the anniversary of Germany’s triumph in the battle of Tannenberg, but 200 marines were hidden, trojan horse-style, below deck. Hitler had already made his choice. Trump’s meeting with French President Macron on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was crafted to fuel the anti-Ukraine propaganda. The final piece of the puzzle, completing the picture of Ukraine as the unreasonable party and perpetuating the lie that the US is interested in diplomacy, “It's time to end this bloodletting and restore peace, and I think we're going to do it,” Trump.
At 4:45 am on September 1, 1939, Hitler’s troops entered Poland. On February 28, 2025, Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to discuss and sign a deal that would hopefully guarantee protections for Ukraine in exchange for rare earth minerals. Trump and Vice President JD Vance cornered Zelenskyy in the Oval Office for what was supposed to be a quick press spray. Instead they began taking questions from reporters in the room. Trump was asked if he aligns too much with Putin, Trump said he’s aligned with the World. Trump then points to Zelenskyy, “You see the hatred he’s got for Putin.” Trump offers to take one more question. Vance sees this as his last chance and ultimately asserts, “the path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy”, recognizing this would trigger Zelenskyy. They know Zelenskyy doesn’t want a ceasefire without security guarantees they aren’t willing to give. Zelensky calmly explains that when he signed the ceasefire in 2014 Macron and Merkel promised him Putin’s forces will not enter Ukraine, that promise was not kept. To cement the narrative that Zelenskyy is the unreasonable party, Vance replies,“the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” leading to a back and forth, that escalated to a screaming match. This was entirely orchestrated to make people believe it was Zelenskyy’s disinterest in civil diplomacy that led to the downfall of his country. Trump, “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on.” When Putin takes Ukraine and marches west, Trump will use this meeting to say - On my own initiative I have, not once but several times, made proposals for the revision of intolerable conditions. All these proposals, as you know, have been rejected.
Resource
Well done. You describe Trump's manipulation very well. Thank you
Interesting historical comparison. Well done!