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March 3, 2025 - Ron Paul Liberty Report
32:25
British 'Boots On The Ground' In Ukraine? Seriously?

UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer presented his delusional program for Ukraine designed as a slap in the face of US efforts to end the war. In Starmer's "tough guy" plan, he would be ready to send "boots on the ground and planes in the air." One catch: only with strong US backing! Ukraine is the faultline where the US and EU/NATO go our separate ways.

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Time Text
Government Buying and Its Consequences 00:04:07
Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning in to the Liberty Report.
With us today, we have Daniel McAdams, our co-host.
Daniel, good to see you this morning.
Happy Monday, Dr. Paul.
How was your weekend?
Good, good.
I worked in the yard on Saturday.
Yeah, yeah.
Were you out there working?
I was.
It was great.
I should have been out doing some of that kind of stuff.
Well, but there were some other people fighting over the weekend, not with guns and bullets, but with a lot of words.
And I just happened to be walking through the living room because I'll leave some stations on.
And these two guys, I think Zelensky was involved and vice president, Trump.
All of us, they were shouting at each other.
This is a little bit different.
Maybe this is something being staged.
But it got replayed.
I imagine it's been replayed a million times.
More than that.
But it has to do with peace in Ukraine.
How's it going to come about?
Are they on the verge of it?
Seems to us that one side's losing it.
Why don't they just, you know, go home and say they lost the war?
But why are we there?
Well, we're there because we promoted this stupid war, you know, when it started in 2014.
And how many American dollars have been spent to destroy that country?
A lot.
And now they are trying to figure out how to come about peace.
But then they're into a conversation about the division of the spoils of war, which makes me sick.
You know, I often think about, you know, when there was a populist movement in the 30s trying to stay out of World War I, World War II.
And at that time, I was wondering, you may know the answer to this.
I don't think there was a time where that was the main job of the populist movement back then was to take over a country so we could get their oil.
Probably were some people that are doing that, but right now, it's pervasive in this administration.
It worries me a bit, but the American people like it.
And when they're using that authoritarian approach to defend some of our liberties and get rid of the goofballs that are encroaching our freedom, all of a sudden, you know, we can become sympathetic.
But anyway, Zelensky didn't have his best day in court there.
Zelensky rejects calls for immediate ceasefire, won't apologize to Trump.
Ukraine is not for sale.
But what is he doing?
He says, our dollars have been sent over there.
We've been buying them and they're buying influence supposedly.
And yet those billions of dollars are insufficient.
And I think what aggravates Trump and a lot of Americans is they're not grateful.
You know, it's like, is that all you're going to send us?
Because don't you know this is more at stake than just a couple of small people leaders?
No, it's a big deal.
So Zelensky is there persistent to get more money.
And some is willing to put their foot down.
But what do they want to get out of it?
I think our government, there's evidence to show that at least there's a good bunch of them would like to get something out of it and get repaid, but it's not going to repay the American people.
You know, there may be some wealth transferred to Americans one way or the other, whether it's oil or precious metals or whatever it is.
But it's something that's not a fair exchange.
We're not making up for it.
People who had to spend their dollars to the government to go over there and do these things.
They're not going to be refunded, just like in all wars.
The people don't get refunded.
They fight the wars, die in the wars, and pay for the wars.
I think it's time to change that attitude.
Ungrateful Guest? 00:03:22
Well, it was an astonishing scene for a number of reasons.
Now, first of all, you have this global beggar who comes over.
The U.S. doesn't just fund the war with its weapons and its money.
It funds the entire Ukrainian country, the government and the country, the salaries of government leaders.
It funds the NGOs.
It funds the media.
We've already purchased and bought it.
So to have someone like that coming over, and as you use the word, appearing to be ungrateful, and I think that's a kind word for how he was appearing was astonishing, I think, to the administration.
Now, there are other reasons that we'll bring up later, but just as a recap, I think things went south very quickly in this press conference.
And honestly, Dr. Paul, I had never seen anything like it.
And I've watched politics, I remember probably before, but I certainly remember Nixon when he resigned as a little kid.
I have never seen anything like this.
It sort of recalls, you know, Khrushchev hitting the desk with his shoe, that sort of level.
But I mean, I think it started out when Zelensky arrived in his pajamas or his track suit or whatever it is that he wears.
Apparently, a memo had gone out from the U.S. delegation to the Ukrainian side saying, listen, the president would really like Zelensky to put on a suit.
He's going into the Oval Office.
There should be some decorum in here, you know, that we would really like to see this.
Now, the rest of his delegation was wearing suits and he showed up in his track suit, a black one.
So maybe that's his formal attire.
But President Trump, in his own way, noticed, oh, I see you dressed up for the event, you know, and you could tell that he was annoyed, even though he was being trying to be humorous about it.
Now, the second thing that struck me, and I think it struck a lot of other people, is that when, so there was a lot of press conference that most people didn't watch, myself included, it was like 40 minutes or so and them just talking, whatever, about the plan.
And then it got serious toward the end, where JD Vance, the vice president, was sitting next to Trump and he raised a couple of issues with Zelensky.
And Zelensky's response to the vice president of the United States was not, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Vance, what have you.
He said, look, JD, which was incredible.
I've never seen such a breach of protocol.
To which Vice President Vance responded, with all due respect, Mr. President, talking to Zelensky.
So I think that was, I could just look in, I could just see from Trump that that was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
And then, sorry, to draw this out, but then I think what did happen is Zelensky was talking over Vance.
They were talking over each other.
And Zelensky said, well, you've got a nice ocean between you.
You're not feeling it now, but you're going to feel it.
And that's when you could see Trump really explode.
And he said, don't tell us what we're going to feel.
And then he really put him in his place there.
He did not want to hear this telling us how we're going to feel.
By the way, the microphone did pick up Zelensky using an extremely foul word in Russian.
Ironically, in Russian, not Ukrainian, when Vance started speaking, I won't use the word, but it is an extremely rude word in the Russian language under his breath.
So the whole thing was a complete fiasco.
Entertaining, but a fiasco.
Well, let's look and see.
Boots on the Ground 00:15:11
What benefits did we have for this?
Well, it may make Americans and our policymakers much more sympathetic.
Why do we get into these stupid situations?
It costs us a lot of money.
There's no appreciation for it.
And all they can do is come and want more money and get angry with us because we haven't sent them enough money.
Well, maybe we'll run out of money someday and that'll change it all.
And it's the magnificence of a reserve currency that can be increased in value perpetually.
But that won't work.
And there will be a day that we'll have to reassess it.
And I think that's what's happening now.
I think Trump's in office because people are sensing that things are getting out of control.
Yeah, we've spent too much money.
Is that $36 trillion?
That's getting up there.
You're getting about to make some real change.
So this is a big issue.
I think that, you know, this whole thing, I still can't quite comprehend, you know, especially the British getting together and say, you know, and determined they have to have this war with Russia.
You know, Russia, you know, we've gone over that all along, and there's a lot of reasons why Russia is involved in Ukraine.
But it's not like what Hitler was doing, you know, marching across Europe with thousands of tanks and taking over many countries.
They haven't done it.
And I think they're telling the truth when they say so far their policy has been designed to counteract the threats from other nations.
And they're disgusted because the promises made to them have been broken by us in the West.
And that's why we're in this mess.
But I don't see how there's going to be an easy solution there if we have to get all the precious metals and oil and whatever these countries have and confiscate them.
I just don't think that'll work.
And it's, I mean, Russia was clear about this.
You can say they're lying, but there's no evidence that they're lying.
They went into eastern Ukraine to help the Russian-speaking population, which had been a part of Russia for centuries, help them because they were being bombed by Kiev.
They were being bombed by their own country for 10 years since 2014.
They were bombed, what, eight years from their own country.
And so Russia went in.
So where's the evidence that they want to move forward?
And I think that's what irritated Trump.
I hope that's what irritated Trump because when he said, soon you will feel it, that was when Zelensky said that.
What he was doing is repeating the myth, and it is a myth, that when Russia finishes in eastern Ukraine, it's going to take the Baltics.
Then they'll be marching to the Champs-Élysées, right, and through Berlin, and boom, right in New York, we'll all be eating blinis for dinner or something, you know, and it's so absurd on its face.
But that was a bill of goods that Zelensky was trying to set to sell and Trump to shut it down.
No, don't tell us how we're going to feel.
But there's no sign that Zelensky is going to change his attitude.
No.
I mean, without a conversation, most people in the world said he's burning all his bridges.
There's a limit to how far you can go.
Yet he's still in there negotiating like he's top player.
And I didn't put the picture in here, but there was a picture of his ambassador to the U.S. as Zelensky was crashing and burning.
She was like this.
And you could tell, what am I going to do?
And apparently, the whole delegation from Ukraine was in tears almost, some of them literally in tears, because after this wild exchange, Trump says, get out.
And there's a whole lunch prepared for them in the West Wing or whatever, the whole big lunch that they were going to eat here, have a, you know, whatever.
They said, no, go.
They probably drove through Chick-fil-A or something, but he opened the door.
The White House staffers ate the lunch.
It's pretty crazy.
But let's put up this first clip.
This is just kind of what we're talking about, which is that Zelensky afterward, he's too pig-headed to say, you know why I really messed up.
No, he said, no way.
Zelensky rejects calls for ceasefire and won't apologize.
And this is from Hedge this morning.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Velensky has remained defiant in the wake of Friday's explosive confrontation with Trump and Vance in the Obal Office.
He said from Londay, from London Sunday that he will not apologize and his companies, his country's freedom is not for sale.
And then go to the next one.
And this is a delusional Vladimir Zelensky.
He says, if you don't have an end to the war and you don't have security guarantees, no one's going to be able to control the ceasefire, he told reporters.
So what he's saying, this is someone who doesn't realize that you are losing a war.
When you are losing a war, you don't get security guarantees.
You don't control the ceasefire.
What you do is surrender.
And he's not able to comprehend that fact.
And so as soon as he got slapped around by Trump and Vance for being such a jerk, he ran screaming over to Europe and sat down with the Europeans and said, well, why don't you guys help us?
And they said, okay, we will.
So that's what he did.
You know, but Trump was trying to give him some good advice.
He said, you don't even have the cards.
And it was written up that Zelensky had no idea what he was talking about.
What was he saying about cards?
You don't hold the cards, that's for sure.
Well, I, and you alluded to it earlier, Dr. Paul.
I do think that this disaster was fortuitous for Americans because I think it averted a disaster, which was Trump's actual, if this was his actual plan for Ukraine, I think it was an absolute disaster.
And I have a couple of clips that I've put together.
Let's listen to this first one.
Here's an explanation of this great deal that he was being offered.
Zelensky was that first video clip.
Let's put that up.
This is Waltz, the national security advisor, talking about the plans.
Listen to what Waltz said they were going to do.
We had a beautiful setting in the East Room ready for both leaders to sign that would have bound the United States and Ukraine together economically for a generation for critical minerals that we need, economic investment that they need.
And that would have been in the heels, Charlie, of having the prime minister of the United Kingdom who says he's ready to put boots on the ground, the president of France, Macron, who's ready to put boots on the ground, NATO Secretary General that the president had just spoke to about broader security guarantees.
So this really could have been and should have been a positive moment for Ukraine.
And then we go to further negotiating with the Russians, bring this war to an end and move the world forward and stop the death and destruction.
We had a beautiful so I think Waltz is also delusional, Dr. Paul.
He is saying that it's a wonderful thing.
It will be entwined with Ukraine for a generation.
One of the most notoriously corrupt countries in the world, a place that's devastated, a place where the minerals are not in the areas that are controlled by Kiev anyway.
And he's acting as this is a great deal to get us enmeshed and entwined with Ukraine.
But a big question should be for us is why are we even in this negotiation and participation in it?
Yeah, it's a mess over there.
But not only are we in there and sticking around and bothering, but we were participating in creating the monster.
You know, when the revolution and the coup occurred, we were right in the middle of it.
And we've been involved for a long time.
And people just say, well, the American people just go along with it, you know, but they had to have an enemy.
Yeah.
And Russia's been the enemy.
And yet, here we have a whole election was distorted by lying about the Russians, you know, the Russia gate things.
And that is what caused a great division.
But I think that was half settled in the campaign and showed that Russia was not quite the monster that it has been painted to.
But nevertheless, it's the still, there's a lot of mainstream media that's still spilling out a lot of the garbage.
The American people are hearing.
Continue to do it.
Well, I do.
I really believe that we dodged a bullet, the fact that this negotiation broke down.
And here's another clip that I would, I would, if here's exhibit B as to why it was a disaster.
Put on that next clip and play that whole clip.
Now, this apparently was the plan.
This is the people like Waltz and Kellogg.
This was their great idea for getting us enmeshed in Ukraine.
That second case.
Now, listen to this.
Now, that's actually, before you play it, that is the ambassador there with her head in her hands.
But let's listen to this.
This is really important here.
President Trump was throwing him a lifeline.
This mineral deal would have put U.S. companies in Ukraine, which would essentially be better than troops.
They're less threatening to Putin, but they serve the same purpose.
President Trump would never allow Putin to invade and put American companies in danger.
So you hear that?
The brilliance of the plan was putting American companies on the ground as tripwires so Putin wouldn't invade to exploit the Ukrainian minerals.
It's an absolutely insane plan.
So it reminds me of some of these war games.
I mean, the games that teenagers and other people play on chessboards, you know, back and forth.
Not in reality.
It's so fictitious.
But nevertheless, that's how a lot of the evil wars have started.
Yes.
With this kind of poor judgment.
Well, put on that next clip because this is the argument, though.
This is a terrible, terrible argument.
Trump is getting terrible advice.
This is sort of Bolton-level dumbness.
If you put this next one on, no, no, no, not the video.
Sorry, I know the terminology I use is inappropriate, incorrect, inaccurate.
But meanwhile, Trump posted, if you put that one up, okay.
So meanwhile, Trump reposted on his Truth Social account a quote from Gartner analyst Michael McCune, according to whom Zelensky now has no choice but to back down and accept Trump's terms, suggesting that Trump clearly is content with the outcome of the Friday Debaco.
Now, a debacle.
Now, here is McClune, who reposted, was reposted by Trump.
Here's McClune's analysis.
No, go back, please.
This is terrible.
Now Zelensky will have no choice but to back down and accept Trump's terms.
But here's the genius part: Trump is actually protecting Ukraine without dragging the U.S. into war.
By negotiating a mineral deal, Trump ensures that Americans will be involved in Ukraine's mining industry.
And I underline this.
This prevents Russia from launching an invasion because attacking Ukraine would mean endangering American lives, something that would force the U.S. to respond.
This is turning the whole thing on its head, Dr. Paul.
This is the U.S. intervening on behalf of Ukraine and against Russia in the war, as Trump himself was trying to negotiate with Russia better relationship.
This is schizophrenic.
I've never seen anything like this.
Is it going to work?
No, it won't work.
It's already not worked because it's crazy.
It's totally crazy.
Well, the Europeans, we mentioned, Dr. Paul, that he marched over to London, cooling his heels.
He was upset.
Put this next one on right after he left JD and President Trump.
Europe unveils rival Ukraine peace plan backed by boots on the ground and planes in the air.
Kerr Starmer, Dr. Paul, the prime minister of the UK is ready to take on Russia.
And there's a funny moment before Zelensky came, Dr. Paul, on Thursday when Starmer was in the White House and Starmer was talking tough, beating his chest.
And Trump interrupted him and said, you think you could take on Russia by yourself?
And started laughing.
And Starmer was really embarrassed because he likes to play the tough guy, but he doesn't have the troops to back him up.
One estimate is that they could field at most 20,000 troops.
I don't think that's going to go very far against the Russian army.
But nevertheless, he's beating his chest.
He's ready to send boots on the ground and planes in the air to Ukraine.
They do it with all seriousness, that they're going to be a threat now and they're going to take over.
But they also argue that this will be so effective and important that the Americans will come back in and be part of this.
They think that's going to happen.
But I don't think Trump is likely to join in something somebody else thought up.
No, and Trump is not stupid either.
This would be stupid.
But listen, you have to almost listen to it from Starmer's own mouth.
And I do have a video clip.
Let's watch one minute and 17 seconds of tough guy, Kare Starmer talking tough.
But here's the thing.
There is a twist in the end.
They're going to put boots on the ground.
They're going in.
They're going to take on Russia.
But there is a caveat.
Wait for it.
Play that minute 17 seconds of that final video clip.
No, you're going to have to rewind it.
There we go.
To the beginning.
There you go.
Yeah, that first minute 17.
First, we will keep the military aid flowing and keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia to strengthen Ukraine now.
Second, we agreed that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine's sovereignty and security.
And Ukraine must be at the table.
Third, in the event of a peace deal, we will keep boosting Ukraine's own defensive capability to deter any future invasion.
Fourth, we will go further, develop a coalition of the willing to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee the peace.
Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back.
Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency.
The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air together with others.
Keep Boosting Ukraine's Defense 00:07:10
Europe must do the heavy listing.
Keep playing it.
Keep playing it.
Plate the 17.
But to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing.
There's the punchline.
There's the punchline.
We're ready to put boots on the ground, but we have to have strong U.S. backing.
You know, this whole thing, I look at this, you know, the mentality of these people.
I mean, they're grown up.
They've been around.
They've had a chance to read history.
Some of them even remember World War II.
It's the same old nonsense going on and on.
And so is it their mental status that's the problem?
Or are they just evil?
Are they thinking they're personally going to profit to it?
Are they obsessed with power?
I imagine a little bit of everything, but it makes no sense.
It seems like all their motivations would be opposite of what a good libertarian should be sharing.
Well, Sarma is just delusional.
Russia is winning, but yet his four-point plan is we'll continue to support Ukraine militarily.
When we get a deal, we will continue sending weapons to them.
This is literally a thousand times worse than the Minsk agreements, a thousand times worse.
And Russia is in an infinitely better military position than it was during the Minsk agreements being told.
And so he's coming out with absolute delusion.
But the whole thing is that punchline, which is, well, provided the U.S., so basically he wants to drag the U.S. into World War III.
That's what it is.
And, you know, that does happen.
You know, I think about how we were dragged into World War II, but we were participating.
Our leadership in opposition to the people were participating in dragging us into a war, you know, and setting the stage for when the people can't turn it down.
There will always have to be fear and concern, and that they are coming to get us, and people have to be, you know, brainwashed into it.
And so often, even with the explanation of the media has to be curtailed and you have to be watching, the people don't seem to be having awakened.
Sometimes I think that a good example of them finally waking up is COVID.
But even that, I still talk to people who still get, oh, well, what did you do today?
Well, I got four shots at one time.
I'm covered for one, two, three, four.
Good luck.
Just on and on.
Yeah, good luck with that.
So, well, on the one hand, you know, Trump was good.
He did not let Zelensky bully him around in the Oval Office.
He got the upper hand.
He told him to sit down and shut up and listen.
But on the other hand, there is some blindness.
Now, go to that next clip because as this was happening, we were cheering Zelensky being put in this place.
But on that next clip, Rubio expedites shipment of $4 billion in military aid for Israel.
So here we go, on one hand, standing up for America first.
And then on the other hand, another $4 billion in military aid for Israel.
Go to the next one.
It says the statement came a day after the State Department approved three separate arms deals for Israel worth nearly $3 billion.
So another $3 billion in arms deals, which includes a huge number of 2,000-pound bombs.
The biggest sale, which will likely be funded by U.S. military aid, that means we are paying for these, including these 2,000-pound bombs.
I don't know what on earth, Dr. Paul, there is left to bomb in Gaza.
I guess there's a couple of civilians left they need to get rid of.
But nevertheless, here you have an administration on one hand does stand up for America first, stop putting our money overseas.
And then on the other hand, there is a massive blind spot.
You know, the Trump, another headline along that line, sends Yahoo weapons while talking tough to Zelensky.
But I wonder about, you know, what people describe the administration as its populace, you know, and yet I don't think, I don't think the original populace of the 30s were exactly this aggressive.
They seem to want to just like Trump uses the language, I want to stay out of war and want to end war.
And I think to a degree, he's probably very sincere.
But there's always a caveat.
Somebody else said, we want the Americans to do it for us.
But our caveat is we want ultimate control.
We want the minerals.
We want the oil.
The whole works.
So it's something that it's not, I don't think the populist term is unique.
And I think liberty is definable and most people can understand it.
But populism seems to over time, there's always a variant of it and some more aggressive than others.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, sometimes a pitcher can tell a thousand words, Dr. Paul.
And here is a funny couple of juxtaposition of a couple of photos.
Now I'll put the first photo on.
Here is Trump when Zelensky's in the White House.
I go to the next one.
Here is Trump when Netanyahu's in the White House pulling his chair up.
I can't take credit.
Some other people have posted it on X, but there is a huge contrast to how Trump treats certain foreign leaders.
So we'll leave it at there, I guess.
We'd like to see that.
He's telling, you know, well, check it out.
I think your money's in there.
I'll make sure all the money's there.
We would like a more consistent America first policy, and hopefully we'll move in that direction.
You know, most people think that if you don't do it, of course, freedom and free markets, we believe, it's a good way to go for peace.
But what about these people who think, well, you wouldn't do anything to help them?
Well, originally at the beginning of Israel, it was all volunteer money.
They came and asked for donations.
It doesn't mean that you'll be prohibited, but right now the people would send money to one side and make sure that Palestinians can't even get a hospital.
Yeah, blocking the A. They're doing the blocking the aid right now.
Yeah.
Well, I'm going to close out with a slightly altered, go to that very last clip, slightly altered ad for our conference coming up on the 22nd, just a couple, just under three weeks away, Dr. Paul.
Now, if you look at this, we finally have the, now this isn't the exact order of speeches, but it is the titles of speeches for their March 22nd conference.
People Come from Far 00:02:23
I will be speaking about, we are living in the, we were living in the matrix.
Tom Woods, our great friend, the Ron Paulian origins of the present moment.
David Stockman on the board of the Ron Paul Institute, another great friend, bring the empire home, save $500 billion a year.
Our other great friend, Jeff Deist, Trump and the Old Right.
Now, that's going to be interesting.
And former U.S. Republic John Duncan, also on the Ron Paul Institute board.
It's all about the money.
And then the big man hits the stage, Ron Paul.
And I kind of made up this title for you, The Age of Trump 2.0.
We can negotiate about the title of your speech, but I wanted to put a placeholder in there.
It looks like I have to make a show.
You have to make a show.
I have to come.
Sounds good, though.
I mean, I'm a little selfish.
I want to hear all these speeches.
Right.
I hope we run out of chairs and have some people come.
We're getting closer.
I'll tell you that.
We're getting closer.
So I'm all done.
All right.
I want to thank our viewers for tuning in today.
And we are making a sincere effort to spread this message, but we need your help.
We always need your help in promoting the cause.
And I get more joy out of people when they say, the other day, I had an interview with somebody and they say, you know, I always like to know, where'd you hear this?
You know, did you read Mises and Hayek?
And who did you read?
It's so often I get the answer that, oh, I was in the campaign at 08 and I did a little campaigning and that's when I heard some of this stuff.
So that makes me feel well and good about the whole issue.
But I feel good about when we have our conferences because a lot of people come back and they've been around for a long time.
A lot of new people come.
A lot of people come from long distances.
And everybody follows the rules that I have.
And the one rule is you have to have some fun while you're there.
And that is the reason why like-minded people will get along together and be realistic.
I mean, we don't have a wand there that you sign up and the world is going to be perfect for you and everybody else.
It doesn't work that way.
But I find the whole issue of defending liberty and understanding the history of liberty is fascinating and exciting.
And we take a step, even if it's a minor step in that direction.
It makes me feel good.
I want to thank all of you for the support you give.
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