In a jaw-dropping display of transactional greed, Donald Trump took the stage at the CPAC conference on Saturday evening, brazenly demanding that Ukraine hand over its rare earth metals and oil as "payback" for U.S. military aid.

Declaring that a deal is "pretty close," Trump made it crystal clear that his administration sees Ukraine not as an ally in distress, but as a piggy bank to be raided for American profit.

"I want them to give us something for all the money we put up," Trump blustered, insisting the U.S. is owed compensation for what he wildly claimed was $350 billion in aid—a figure that conveniently inflates the real number, estimated at $120 billion by credible sources like the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. His cavalier attitude toward the facts is only matched by his shameless exploitation of a nation fighting for its survival against Russian aggression. "We’re asking for rare earth and oil—anything we can get!" he crowed, as if Ukraine’s resources were up for grabs at a garage sale.

Trump’s National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, echoed this predatory optimism at the same conference on Friday, confidently predicting a deal would soon be struck. But across the Atlantic, Ukrainian leaders aren’t buying what Trump’s selling. A source close to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Sky News that Kyiv is far from signing on the dotted line, slamming the draft agreement as a one-sided sham. "It doesn’t reflect a partnership," the source fumed, pointing out that it’s loaded with "unilateral commitments by Ukraine" and glaringly lacks the robust security guarantees Kyiv desperately needs to fend off future Russian threats.

While Trump whined that European aid came as loans and the U.S. got the short end of the stick, his policy reeks of a strongman shaking down a weaker nation for its valuables. "We’re going to get our money back because it’s not fair," he insisted, oblivious to the irony of strong-arming a war-torn country while preaching fairness. Rare earth metals—vital for everything from smartphones to electric vehicles—are in high demand, but Trump’s approach turns a potential partnership into a blatant heist.

As Trump rambled through his speech, taking cheap shots at Joe Biden and boasting of dubious achievements since reclaiming the White House, his Ukraine policy stood out as a grotesque low point. Far from supporting a democratic ally, he’s treating Ukraine like a conquered territory ripe for plunder—a move that undermines U.S. credibility and hands Russia a propaganda win on a silver platter. Kyiv’s pushback signals that Zelenskyy won’t roll over for this bully tactics, leaving Trump’s "pretty close" deal looking more like a pipe dream built on bad faith. (ILKHA)