Furious Zelenskyy Finally Turns the Tables on Trump

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Furious Zelenskyy Finally Turns the Tables on Trump"

Podcast: The MeidasTouch Podcast
Date: December 26, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas (MeidasTouch Network)

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles the evolving dynamics of the war in Ukraine, highlighting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forceful Christmas Day message aimed at Vladimir Putin and, pointedly, at Donald Trump. The Meiselas brothers explore recent claims of collusion between Trump and Putin regarding Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and analyze the increasing signs of Russian military setbacks, as well as bipartisan responses from U.S. senators to Russian aggression. The tone reflects the hosts' signature mix of humor, brotherly banter, and passionate advocacy for democracy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Zelenskyy’s Defiant Christmas Message (02:50–05:23)

• Context: On Christmas Day, President Zelenskyy issued a stirring address, defiantly affirming Ukrainian resilience in the face of Russian aggression and highlighting unity despite immense hardship.
• Message Content: Zelenskyy’s wishes for Putin were unambiguous—"I hope you die and I hope you suffer,"—a personal condemnation extended to all responsible for Ukraine’s suffering.
• Ukrainian Strength: The message underscored Ukraine’s unbreakable spirit, asserting, "it is utterly incapable of occupying or bombing the most vital and essential thing that is our Ukrainian heart. This is our unwavering faith in one another and this is our unbreakable unity." (Zelenskyy, 03:38)
• Universal Aspiration: Despite devastation, Zelenskyy invoked hope—"We ask for peace for Ukraine... we truly deserve it." (Zelenskyy, 04:13)

2. Trump-Putin Nuclear Plant Plot (05:23–10:53)

• Revelation: Putin reportedly announced a plan for Trump and Russia to jointly manage the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, explicitly excluding Ukraine.
• Crypto Angle: There are suggestions that this scheme aims to use the plant for cryptocurrency mining operations, with Trump potentially profiting.
  • “Putin is conning Trump into thinking he can mine cryptocurrency with one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants that Russia stole during the war." (10:53)
• Electrical Blackmail: Part of the joint management plan involves manipulating power supplies, possibly to further undermine Ukraine.

3. Russian Military Failures & Propaganda (06:30–09:33)

• Battlefield Reality: Ukraine has reclaimed control of Kupiansk, a major area previously claimed by Russia. Even Russian military bloggers now openly criticize Kremlin disinformation, exposing the failures of Russian forces.
• Fake News & AI Claims: Putin alleges Zelenskyy’s presence near Kupiansk was “AI fake news,” reflecting how Kremlin propaganda is spiraling further from fact.
  • "Putin, like Trump, said, 'We've never been stronger. We're conquering everything.'" (07:26)

4. International & Domestic Responses (10:53–15:14)

• Atrocities Continue: Despite global condemnation, Russia bombed Ukrainian civilian areas over Christmas, causing multiple casualties.
  • “Over the past day alone, Russian missiles and drones killed civilians in Odessa, the Kharkiv region, the Cherni region and Kershaw with others injured in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy." (11:50)
• Historic Evidence: Declassified US documents reveal Putin has denied Ukraine’s statehood since as early as 2008, indicating a long-standing imperial agenda.
• Bipartisan U.S. Support: Democratic and Republican senators released a joint statement condemning Russian actions, labeling Russia “the obvious aggressor.”
  • “It’s good to see Republicans and Democrats…at least joining together to make that statement while Donald Trump was out there saying Russia wants peace and Putin wants peace. It’s up to Zelenskyy.” (13:35)
• Ongoing War: The hosts emphasize that with Putin still in power, the war's only likely end is his removal—“This war will never end with Putin in the Kremlin.”

5. Ukrainian Ingenuity and Morale

• Drone Warfare: Ukrainian forces have been lauded for their creative, effective use of drone swarms to halt Russian advances.
• Morale on the Frontlines: Western leaders and analysts express admiration for Ukraine’s defenders, especially during the difficult holiday period.

6. Skepticism on Authoritarianism

• Discussion on how Trump and Putin’s propensity to surround themselves with sycophants leads to strategic incompetence, inadvertently benefiting Ukraine and global democracy.

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Most Notable Quotes & Moments

• Zelenskyy’s Christmas Address:

  • “Despite all the immense hardships and tragedies that Russia has brought upon us, it is utterly incapable of occupying or bombing the most vital and essential thing that is our Ukrainian heart. This is our unwavering faith in one another and this is our unbreakable unity.”
    (Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 03:38)
  • “We are celebrating Christmas during a very difficult time. Unfortunately, not all of us are able to be home this evening and, and sadly not everyone even has a home.”
    (Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 03:28)
  • “We ask for peace for Ukraine. We are fighting for this and we are praying for this and we truly deserve it.”
    (Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 04:13)

• On Russian Military Propaganda:

  • “Providing false reports. You see Putin, like Trump said, we've never been stronger. We're conquering everything. We control the land. When Zelenskyy was at Kupian two weeks ago, Putin said that's fake news. That's AI Zelenskyy.” (Commentator/Host, 07:26)

• On the Trump/Putin Nuclear Plot:

  • “Putin is conning Trump into thinking he can mine cryptocurrency with one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants that Russia stole during the war.”
    (Jane Kee quoted by Political Analyst, 10:53)

• Condemning Russian Atrocities:

  • “Mass murder and terrorism is Russian culture in its purest form. Even on Christmas, Russians continue their deliberate assault on Ukraine's civilian population."
    (Ukraine’s Prime Minister, 11:50 paraphrased)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:50] Zelenskyy’s Christmas Message: direct condemnation of Putin and call for Ukrainian unity
• [03:28–05:23] Full Zelenskyy holiday speech
• [05:23–10:53] Analysis: Trump/Putin joint control of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and crypto mining angle
• [06:30–09:33] Russian propaganda debunked, battlefield realities in Kupiansk
• [10:53–15:14] Russian atrocities over Christmas, historic context, bipartisan US response, reflections on Putin’s imperial ambitions

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Conclusion

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast delivers a detailed, passionate examination of the latest developments in Ukraine, foregrounding President Zelenskyy’s heartfelt appeal and the deepening connection between the Trump and Putin camps. The hosts underscore the resilience of Ukraine’s people and the importance of bipartisan solidarity in confronting Russian aggression, all while blending critical analysis with their trademark energy and humor.

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Transcript

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$[e-mail] President Zelinsky of Ukraine has turned the tables on Donald Trump. He's saying checkmate. So after it was announced that Donald Trump is working with Putin behind Ukraine's back to take over these apprecia nuclear plant that Russia stole during its invasion. And Russia says Donald, we're going to.

[Political Analyst]

Let you use it for crypto harvesting.

[Commentator/Host]

Zelinsky had a very significant message on Christmas day delivering utter humiliation to Donald Trump and Vladimir Vladimir Putin. It is now clear that Ukraine has defeated Russia in the war area around Kupa and this is an area that Putin claimed that he was going to be taking over that he already controlled. But Kupiansk seems to be firmly in control of Ukraine at this point and the Russian troops there are on the run now. Zelinsky had a very important Christmas Day message for Putin and seemed very clear to me that this was a message that was also going to be directed towards Donald Trump and he says to Putin, I hope you die and I hope you suffer, and I hope that Russia feels and experiences the pain and suffering that you've inflicted on Ukraine.

[Political Analyst]

Ukraine will rise.

[Commentator/Host]

Ukraine will stand strong. And nothing that you and Donald Trump are doing to try to collude, to make us surrender is going to have that effect. Let me show you this clip by Zelinsky in just a moment. Just a reminder, hit subscribe. We're on our way to 6 million subscribers here at the Midas Touch YouTube channel. Thanks to your support. You know we're under attack by Trump's doj, the Trump regime and state regime media. So please make sure you hit subscribe. Here is what Zelinsky posted. This was Zelensky's message to Putin and to Donald Trump. Play this clip.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]

We are celebrating Christmas during a very difficult time. Unfortunately, not all of us are able to be home this evening and, and sadly not everyone even has a home.

And not everyone unfortunately is able to be with us here today. But despite all the immense hardships and tragedies that Russia has brought upon us, it is utterly incapable of occupying or bombing the most vital and essential thing that is our Ukrainian heart. This is our unwavering faith in one another and this is our unbreakable unity. And so millions of us across this land will be waiting in the night sky for the very first star to.

Appear in the skies of Kiev. Zakopatia in the skies of Odessa or Kupiansk, wherever Ukrainians may be. Today they celebrate Christmas together on one date as one big family. Today we all share one dream and we make one wish for everyone that he would perish. Each will say to themselves, but when we turn to God, of course we ask for something broader. We ask for peace for Ukraine. We are fighting for this and we are praying for this and we truly deserve it. For every Ukrainian family to live in peace and harmony. For every Ukrainian child to be happy with their gift, to smile and to preserve that incredibly important childhood faith. Faith in goodness and in miracles so that the eyes of our children, our parents, our loved ones, our families finally stop crying. May good and truth prevail. May peace be victorious. And may we be. And Ukraine.

[Commentator/Host]

It was a nation talking more about what Trump and Putin's latest plan is. This was announced by Putin that the United States and Putin that Trump and Putin are discussing jointly managing these apprecia.

[Political Analyst]

Nuclear power plant without Ukraine's involvement. Putin said he claims that the US.

[Commentator/Host]

Is going to be using it for.

[Political Analyst]

Cryptocurrency mining and at the same time Putin said that electricity supplies to Ukraine are also being considered at Washington's initiative. In other words, put Putin and Trump want to work to figure out how to shut down electricity to Ukraine and find ways to harvest energy there for Trump to profit off of. Putin added that Ukrainian specialists continue to work at the plant but now hold Russian passports, but that this will be a Putin and Trump project. I just want you to think about that. That's what's going down right now. So even Kremlin military bloggers are having to acknowledge the significant Ukrainian successes in the Kupayens direction. And even Russia's own military bloggers are criticizing the Kremlin and the Russian military command for providing false battlefield reports. Sound familiar? Providing false reports. You see Putin, like Trump said, we've never been stronger. We're conquering everything. We control the land. When Zelinsky was at Kupian two weeks ago, Putin said that's fake news. That's AI Zelinsky. He's not really there. As Michael Weiss explains, Putin's receiving bad battlefield intelligence. It might be a boon for Ukraine were it not for the fact that he regurgitate this bad intelligence to Trump's regime to the credulous Steve Whitcoff, who then feeds it to Trump. So here's what we're learning as well. The widespread military blogger criticism within Russia of the Kremlin's and Russia's military commands for false and exaggerated claims and coupons further expose how the ongoing Russian cognitive warfare effort, which aims to paint Ukrainian defenses as on the verge of collapse and major Russian battlefield victories as inevitable, does not reflect the battlefield realities. Russian bloggers Military bloggers also acknowledge that Russia's failure in Kupiansk indicates that Russia does not have sufficient manpower or material to imminently defeat the northern part of the Fortress belt, which simultaneously while simultaneously continuing offensive operations elsewhere. The Institute for the Study of War recently assessed that Russian forces will likely continue to struggle to maintain the Kremlin's desired multipronged offensives in different directions. Due to the long term material and manpower costs of these simultaneous operations, Russian efforts to start the battle for the Fortress belt will likely further stretch Russian resources and Russia will likely need to deprioritize other frontline sectors in order to concentrate even more forces on the Fortress belt area. The Kremlin is therefore making demands in negotiations that Ukraine cede the unoccupied parts of the Donetsk Oblast, likely in order to save Russia the personnel and material resources and possibly to put Russia in a more advantageous position to reinvade in the future, future to pursue Putin's longer term strategic goal of controlling all of Ukraine. So you get what's going on. Russia can't by military take this eastern Ukrainian territory. They're struggling. Ukraine has been ingenious in their use of these drones and stopping Russia with these drone swarms that they're doing as well. And the frontline Ukrainian forces have been so brave and so valiant in their efforts holding the Russian front back and even running counteroffensive.

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[Political Analyst]

So Russia, especially over the past 48, 72 hours, they've got their envoys in Miami. They've got, you know, Demetria meeting with Witkoff. They've pushed out Keith Kellogg, the former envoy, who we said was not long for that job early on because they've assessed him as being someone who would actually advocate for the Ukrainian interests. And now Putin's trying everything and he's doing, let's make this nuclear deal between Trump and Putin. Donald Trump's got this crip, these crypto interests out there to enrich Trump. So Putin's like, you want me to make you a trillionaire? Don? Donald will give you the Zapricia power plant, you can control all the nuclear and so here's what Jane Kee writes. Putin is conning Trump into thinking he can mine cryptocurrency with one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants that Russia stole during the war. The U S is interested in using the Zapricia nuclear power plan for cryptocurrency mining and Russia is going to be joint managing the station without Ukrainian participation with Putin and Donald Trump. That's what he's using right now. Now it should also be noted that during Christmas Russia did not stop its brutal bombing of civilians in Ukraine. Even in the holy Christmas night strikes in Odessa killed one person and injured two others. One civilian was killed in the Kharkiv region and another in the Cherni region. People were injured in Zaprigia as well. Ukraine's prime minister also points out that mass murder and terrorism is Russian culture in its purest form. She writes, even on Christmas, Russians continue their deliberate assault on Ukraine's civilian population. Over the past day alone, Russian missiles and drones killed civilians in Odessa, the Kharkiv region, the Cherni region and Kershaw with others injured in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy as well. This as some additional information just became unclassified as well. The US declassified exchanges between US President Bush and Putin from 2008 in which Putin already called Ukraine a quote, artificial state denying its right for existence. This is years before the war started and should remind us once again that Putin always wanted to take Ukraine. As the tender count explains. It also says that this war will never end with Putin in the Kremlin. It will go on until he is removed permanently and Russia fully dislodged. Everything else is just noise right now as well. Also, we're learning that the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed that they hit a Russian oil refinery in the Novash Stinks Rostov using British French Storm Shadow cruise missiles as well as Michael McPhal, former ambassador, explains to all the Ukrainian warriors in the trenches tonight on Christmas defending freedom in Ukraine, Europe and the world. Thinking of you, in awe of you. And by the way, a bipartisan group of Democratic and Republican senators recently put out a statement in the past 24 hours condemning Russia's slaughter of Ukrainians, especially on Christmas, calling Russia the obvious aggressor, the invader. The war crimes are coming from one side, Russia and Russia alone. And so I suppose it's good to see Republicans and Democrats in the Senate at least joining together to make that statement while Donald Trump was out there saying, oh, you know, Russia wants peace and Putin wants peace. It's up to Zelinsky. Putin wants peace. Putin doesn't want peace. Putin wants eastern Ukraine to be handed to him. Then he's going to use eastern Ukraine to invade the rest of Ukraine. Then he's going to go after Europe. And right now, fortunately, between Trump and Putin's incompetence and the fact that the authoritarian mindset often means that they surround themselves with the worst of the worst that actually is is slowing down what their intentions are. We'll keep you posted every step of the way, folks. Thanks for watching.

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