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Vermonters Protest JD Vance: 'Go Ski in Russia'
'J.D.Vance came to Vermont for a get-away. Locals had other ideas'
Mar 01, 2025
Over a thousand Vermonters lined both sides of Route 100 in Waitsfield, Vermont, Saturday morning protesting Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting nearby Sugarbush Resort this weekend with his family.
Vance's ski vacation comes right after Friday's disastrous meeting where US President Donald Trump and Vance ambushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Protesters shouted obscenities and waved signs as the Vance motorcade rolled past. "Vance is a traitor. Go Ski in Russia," one sign read.
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'We Are Governed by Children': Disgust as Trump and Vance Bully Zelenskyy in Oval Office
"An utter embarrassment for America. This whole sad scene," wrote U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
Feb 28, 2025
A White House meeting on Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rapidly devolved into chaos as the two American leaders took turns berating Zelenskyy with television cameras rolling and the global public looking on.
Both Trump and Vance bizarrely demanded that Zelenskyy show more gratitude for the military aid the U.S. has provided Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and pressured him to accept an as-yet-undefined deal to end the war.
Vance told Zelenskyy he must "say thank you" and chided him for "trying to fight it out in the American media when you're wrong," but Trump intervened to say, "I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on here... that's why I kept this going so long."
"You have to be thankful," Trump told the Ukrainian president, who has repeatedly thanked the American public for the U.S. government's military assistance.
"You don't have the cards," Trump continued as Zelenskyy tried in vain to interject. "You're buried there, your people are dying, you're running low on soldiers."
"You've gotta be more thankful" -- remarkable scenes out of the White House as Trump and JD Vance team up to do Putin's bidding and demean Zelenskyy pic.twitter.com/wjp8UfqN0G
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 28, 2025
Insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin can't be trusted to uphold a bilateral cease-fire, Zelenskyy is demanding security guarantees against a future Russian attack in any agreement to end the conflict—a demand that Trump has thus far rejected.
"Your country is in big trouble," Trump, who falsely suggested last week that Ukraine started the war, told Zelenskyy during the Oval Office meeting, which was meant to kick off talks regarding U.S. access Ukraine's rare earth minerals.
Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday without signing a minerals deal.
"You're either going to make a deal or we're out,” Trump told Zelenskyy during Friday's meeting, a clear threat to withdraw U.S. support for Ukraine. "And if we're out, you'll fight it out and I don't think it's going to be pretty."
Trump to Zelensky: "Your country is in big trouble. No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble. You're not winning this." pic.twitter.com/SDmKGXMgNl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 28, 2025
Observers were aghast at Trump and Vance's conduct during Friday's meeting, which was likened to an ambush. At one point, as Trump responded dismissively to Zelenskyy's call for security guarantees as part of any cease-fire deal, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States was seen with her head in her hands.
"Wow. Just wow," said CNN's Dana Bash following the meeting.
Zeteo's Mehdi Hasan wrote on social media that it is "insane that this just happened."
"We are governed by children," he added.
Watch the full exchange:
WATCH: Full Heated Exchange between President Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/oMJUGPqbSU
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2025
U.S. lawmakers also voiced disgust over Trump and Vance's behavior, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) writing that the meeting was "an utter embarrassment for America."
Shortly after the meeting concluded, Trump took to his social media platform to accuse Zelenskyy of disrespecting the U.S. "in its cherished Oval Office."
"He can come back when he is ready for peace," Trump added as backlash over his treatment of Zelenskyy continued to pour in.
"Trump berates Zelensky, the leader of a democratic country courageously fighting Russian imperialism, while he allies himself with Putin, a dictator who started the bloodiest European war in 80 years," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on social media.
"Sorry, President Trump," Sanders added. "We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism."
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'A Complete Takeover': New Trump Order Entrenches Musk-Led 'Shadow Government'
President Donald Trump's latest executive order "gives Elon Musk, an unelected, hyper-partisan billionaire, unfettered authority over this country's civil service," warned one advocacy group.
Feb 12, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order handing an Elon Musk-led commission sweeping power to oversee federal hiring across non-military departments, entrenching what's been described as a "shadow government" spearheaded by an unelected billionaire.
The new order states that the leader of each non-military federal agency "shall develop a data-driven plan" in coordination with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory body that has infiltrated departments across the U.S. government—and accessed highly sensitive data—as part of an unprecedented effort to gut spending and the federal workforce.
"This hiring plan shall include that new career appointment hiring decisions shall be made in consultation with the agency's DOGE Team Lead, consistent with applicable law," the order continues. "The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled."
The order also instructs agency directors to prepare for "large-scale" cuts to the federal workforce.
"It's a complete takeover of the federal government by Musk," investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr wrote in response to the executive action.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office with Musk at his side, Trump on Tuesday called the order "very important" and attacked federal judges who "want to try and stop us," alluding to court orders against DOGE's attempt to access vital government systems.
Musk, who is leading DOGE while simultaneously heading companies that are benefiting directly from his work inside the Trump administration, insisted he's not orchestrating a "hostile takeover" of the federal government, declaring that the public voted for "major government reform" and "they are going to get what they voted for."
The mega-billionaire also falsely claimed DOGE has been transparent as it rampages through the federal government.
"In reality," The Guardian noted, "Musk has taken great pains to conceal how DOGE has operated, starting with his own involvement in the project. Musk himself is a 'special government employee,' which the White House has said means his financial disclosure filing will not be made public. The DOGE team involves about 40 staffers, but the actual number is not known. Staffers have tried to keep their identities private and refused to give their last names to career officials at the agencies they were detailed to."
Trump's latest executive order (EO) is poised to supercharge the Musk-led assault on and total dismantling of federal agencies, from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"This new EO signed today appears to create DOGE as a shadow government across the entire federal government," Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo wrote late Wednesday, adding that the order "seems to make Elon as head of DOGE functionally the president or perhaps something more like a prime minister."
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the advocacy group Democracy Forward, warned in a statement that "this latest attack on public service gives Elon Musk, an unelected, hyper-partisan billionaire, unfettered authority over this country's civil service."
"People and communities across the nation depend on a non-partisan, committed civil service," said Perryman. "Democracy Forward will pursue all legal options available to protect our civil service and the American people from harms that would stem from this executive order."
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