Lording it over Ukraine is always Trump's m.o.

The road to today’s news is mapped by yesterday’s events.

President Donald Trump’s previous major exertion of pressure on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began on July 25, 2019 in a phone conversation soon heard ‘round the world.

The two heads of state exchanged pleasantries. They spoke of mutual friendship. Zelenskyy broached the subject of obtaining more missiles to stave off Russia’s military pressure on Ukraine’s border. That’s when Trump said: "I would like you to do us a favor, though, because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it."

In opaque, indirect language, Trump then repeated insinuations aimed at his 2016 and 2020 Democratic rivals, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, by demanding Ukraine investigate them. Zelenskyy promised noncommittally that all probes would be conducted properly.

"The United States has been very very good to Ukraine," Trump said at the time. "I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good--" 

A transcript of this conversation, flagged by a whistleblower, was released in September 2019. By October, Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney, in explaining a delay in aid to Ukraine, alluded to a bizarre Vladimir Putin-friendly conspiracy theory that Ukrainians framed Russia for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s computers.

Now, five-and-a-half years later, it’s clear that Trump has resumed his high-handed approach toward the less powerful ally whose nation Putin's Russia invaded in 2022. 

This time, Trump seems to have succeeded in getting Zelenskyy to agree to a material concession that has been discussed for years.

As of Wednesday, Ukraine officials said they reached a "preliminary" agreement that will give the Americans access to the Eastern European country’s mineral deposits. Trump said such a deal would help U.S. taxpayers "get their money back" for helping Ukraine during the war and give Kyiv "the right to fight on" against Russia, whatever that means.

The devil dwells as usual in the details that have yet to be released. For example, the right-of-center Atlantic Council points out that access to many of Ukraine’s minerals depends on the war’s outcome, since many are in the eastern third of the country, where the war has intensively raged. Also, even with access and ownership, the U.S. could face logistical problems with infrastructure and transport, experts say.

But at least — unlike the shady quid pro quo Trump tried to extract in 2019, which backfired and led to his impeachment in 2020 – this mineral deal could benefit the U.S. in the future. Zelenskyy is due to visit the White House on Friday, and cooperation should be on display.

Trump’s interest in extracting natural resources from other nations has long been a talking point. In a forum during the 2016 campaign, he said the U.S. should "take the oil" out of Iraq. "We go in, we spent $3 trillion. We lose thousands and thousands of lives, and then look, what happens is we get nothing. You know, it used to be [to] the victor belong the spoils," he said.

That didn’t happen. His proposals to purchase mineral-rich Greenland and absorb Canada are also likely to be remembered as one president's colonial fantasies in a postcolonial age. 

For all we know, new U.S. mining for titanium, lithium and other elements could help us compete with China. With death and destruction continuing in Ukraine, however, peace and safety for its people seems to remain a side issue for the White House for now, barring a sudden bargain with Putin.

Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.