Key points
- Karate instructor compares Trump to a “master chess player”
- Trump reposted a snippet of the analyst’s write-up
- Oval Office clash still a hot topic
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump fuelled speculations by reposting on Sunday excerpts from a martial arts practitioner’s write-up who called the Oval Office clash of Trump with Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky a “setup”.
Michael McCune, head of an Arizona karate dojo, according to Mail Online, compared the president to a “master chess player”.
The elaborated theory contradicted rumours that President Trump and JD Vance planned an Oval Office ambush of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump, who played a round of golf at his West Palm Beach course Sunday, according to the US media, tried to portray himself as a pro with the repost.
“Strategically align on surface”
The article acknowledged segments of public revulsion of what happened but speculated that Trump and Vance maneuvered to outflank Zelensky during the televised smackdown.
“So what you witnessed tonight was a setup. Trump and JD Vance knew that the only way to achieve peace was to strategically align, at least on the surface, with Russia. Why? Because Russia would never sign a peace treaty if Ukraine were admitted into NATO,” wrote Michael McCune in his post on his Facebook group page.
“Unleash the warrior within”
The page links him with the dojo where he is an instructor, with the tag “Karate-Do way of life” and the slogan “unleash the warrior within.”
Trump snipped the text below the “setup” line, instead including an image of the bottom of his post on his Truth Social site without the full link, identifying McCune only by his name without any other identifying information.
However, the full post is available online.
‘Now, Zelenskyy 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,’ it said.
