He later refused to apologize on Fox, making worse the damage to the deal and insults to the dealmaker-in-chief. Whatever he calculated his advantage to be, Trump and MAGA entered the office with a different view that they’re done spending money on the war and his antics make it easier to cut bait.

WATCH: Fox’s @BretBaier says he gave Zelenskyy multiple chances to apologize to Trump: “I tried three times to make sure he was understanding exactly what I was saying. @MarcThiessen said it was like watching a man drowning who was not taking the life preserver. He did not… pic.twitter.com/G46FILXhI4

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) March 1, 2025

While Trump supporters like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) lapped it up, others — including our graders — didn’t because it threatened to show Trump even closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Conservative analyst Jed Babbin graded the week a D-minus, and our Democratic pollster gave a D.

Meanwhile, the White House kept draining the swamp and promised even deeper cuts. While polls showed support for the cuts, there are starting to be hints of opposition from Republicans who see the actions hurting chances of keeping control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.

Jed Babbin

Grade D-

President Trump had a pretty good week that began with the firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the chief of naval operations, and ended with meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The whole week — and this grade — was upset by the Friday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

In the midst of all that, Trump continued with his massive shakeup of the federal bureaucracy. This week, Trump and his crew managed to:

• Go ahead with the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, effective March 4.
• Have the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrest over 20,000 illegal immigrants, leading to cross-border traffic to slow to a trickle.
• Ban transgender people from membership in the military, at least until there’s another Democratic president.
• Fire nearly 6,000 USAID workers and cut 90% of USAID contracts, which provided such invaluable services as sponsoring transgender operas in Ireland.
• OMB is preparing for the maximum firings of federal employees allowed by law.
• Make illegal the receipt and use of food stamps by illegal immigrants.
• Add another 10% tariff on goods from China which is exporting enormous amounts of fentanyl to the U.S. China reacted angrily, saying that fentanyl is a U.S. problem, meaning they will probably try to cut fentanyl exports to the U.S.

One bad point in the week was Trump’s ambassador’s vote at the United Nations — which went along with Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran — in refusing to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine on the third anniversary of the war. 

The whole week was knocked into a cocked hat when the White House meeting with Zelensky blew up. Trump seems to trust Putin to bargain in good faith and make a deal that will last. Given Putin’s DNA and personal history, that’s ridiculous. Trump is angry with Zelensky, which is understandable.

Trump was hoping for a peace deal in Ukraine which he says will be done quickly or not at all. His impatience with Zelensky seems to have made the “not at all” a near certainty. 

John Zogby

Grade: D

In some ways, things are looking up. Jobless claims were up 242,000 last week, up 22,000 from the previous week, and up dramatically from four months ago. But we are not quite sure if DOGE cuts have been counted yet because thousands of workers are still in limbo.

Prices for beef, eggs, and butter are all up, too. Actually, they are at a record high. But the president is not concerned because he thinks that the American people are “bloated, fat, and disgusting” anyway. What is down is consumer confidence and the overall public mood. Two in five Americans say, “Living in the U.S. is no longer enjoyable.” Two-thirds say American society is “toxic.” And 17% overall want to leave the U.S., including 25% of millennials.

Trump went out of his way earlier in the week to call Zelensky a “dictator,” but then said he could never have said that -—except I saw it. You did, too. But that turned out to be an opening act for a profoundly disrespectful reception of Zelensky by Trump at the White House. The American sovereign held fast for his plan to turn Ukraine into a client of the U.S. Neither the Ukrainian sovereign nor it appears the heads of state all over the world are buying this. 

The photo of the week was the DOGE — Elon Musk — standing and holding court at the president’s Cabinet meeting. Trump’s approval average is still tied — not really good during a honeymoon.

Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book, Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should, was just released. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.