The rough transcript of Donald Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reveals a lot more than the former’s efforts to coerce the latter into providing dirt on a political opponent. It also suggests that the U.S. president entertains some pretty bizarre conspiracy theories – or at least finds them useful for his campaign goals.
Zelensky, who mixed obsequiousness with subtle irony in the July 25 conversation, didn’t directly mention that he’d like the U.S. to unfreeze $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. “We are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes,” he said instead. The aid package included funding under the Foreign Military Financing program, aimed at helping foreign governments purchase U.S.-made weapons such as the Javelin antitank missile, each of which costs upwards of $165,000 (for the launcher, electronic system and missile).
