Breaking: Transcript of Turmp's call with Ukrainian president. Trump offers U.S. assistance to investigate Biden. Also refers to investigation of a U.S. company and former U.S. ambassador. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Initial observations/high points: On several occasions, Trump says he will instruct Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, and Bill Barr, the U.S. attorney general, to call Zelensky re: investigations (apparently Biden, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and Crowdstrike.)
So that's the president directing his own lawyer and the head of the Justice Dept. to assist a foreign government in the investigation of two U.S. citizens and a U.S. company.
Trump repeatedly stresses how supportive the U.S. is of Ukraine, more so than European allies, especially Germany. Zelensky says how much he appreciates that and notes that Ukraine is preparing to buy more arms from the U.S.
Zelenksy says it was Trump who first "told me that she was a bad ambassador," referring to Amb. Marie Yovanovitch, a career foreign service officer who the Trump administration recalled from Ukraine. Trump supporters, and the president's son, had targeted and criticized her.
Of the ambassador, Trump says, "Well, she's going to go through some things." Not clear what that is, but it sounds vaguely menacing. Trump says he will have Giuliani and Barr call Zelensky "and we will get to the bottom of it."
Zelenksy also acknowledges that one of his assistants recently spoke with Giuliani, and that he hopes Giuliani will again come to Ukraine. So there's a history and a future.
In the end, Trump says that Zelensky is welcome to come to the White House. A meeting with the president is something Zelensky had desperately wanted and repeatedly stresses during the call is important to him.
