By letting his vice president instigate the Oval Office blow-up with the Ukrainian leader, Trump resorted to a timeworn industry technique a veteran screenwriter calls "The Stranger in the Room."

Trump and Vance have never seen war up close, but are still disgusted by it. They seem to have felt Zelensky, soaked in war’s horror for three years, needed a lecture about the peace anyone who had seen war would yearn for.

In a meeting intended for the U.S. and a Ukraine minerals agreement, Trump told Zelensky, "You don't have the cards right now," referencing the country's ongoing war with Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.