WATCH: Zelenskyy meeting blows up as Trump suggests Ukrainian president needs to be more grateful
Contentious Trump-Zelensky meeting threatens U.S. support for Ukraine
Not Friday, when Trump told Zelensky that he had no cards and was in no position to make requests of the United States. He also suggested that talks could derail unless attitudes changed. The on-camera fury had no modern precedent and was all the more striking at a time when Trump has been more sympathetic to Moscow than to Kyiv after generations in which Washington has stood staunchly against Kremlin aggression across the world.
Zelensky traveled from Kyiv to finalize a deal granting the United States limited access to Ukraine’s natural resources, which the smaller country had hoped would make the United States more open to bolstering its security in the war with Russia. Instead, the meeting ended without signatures, as Trump booted Zelensky from the White House and issued what appeared to be a threat to cut off U.S. aid for Ukraine entirely.
The turn of events was surprising given the optimism that both sides had projected going into a meeting that was designed to showcase a renewed relationship between Zelensky and Trump. The rapid deterioration revealed just how much tension continues to simmer between the two leaders, and it stunned policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic. One senior European diplomat described feeling nauseous watching the encounter.
“You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position,” Trump told Zelensky, blaming Ukraine for the war even though it began with an unprovoked invasion by Moscow.
Zelensky resisted Trump’s conclusions, urging him to offer security guarantees, emphasizing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression and, as the conversation grew heated, chiding Vance for speaking about Ukraine without having visited the country.
Zelensky left shortly after 1:40 p.m., with a planned news conference canceled. He exited from the West Wing in silence and got into his armored SUV. Aides and other senior Ukrainian officials walked behind him into a van, some of them appearing dazed.
“I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE,” Trump wrote on social media as they departed. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he’s ready for Peace.”
Now, a policy review is underway, with billions of dollars of radar systems, vehicles, ammunition and missiles at stake, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. Ukraine remains under intense bombardment from Russia, with explosions ringing out in Kyiv on Friday night in the hours following the meeting.
European leaders, meanwhile, scrambled to salvage the situation. Many declared their support for Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a right-wing leader who has maintained close relations with both the White House and Ukraine, called for a summit that would gather Trump with European leaders to discuss the future. Other European leaders were reviewing their stocks of weaponry to see whether they could step in to backstop Kyiv.
Trump left the White House on Friday evening for a weekend in Florida, eliminating any chance of any in-person reconciliation.
“He said he wants to come back right now, but I can’t do that,” Trump told reporters as he boarded Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.
In an interview on Fox News on Friday night, Zelensky cast the meeting as a moment of open but divergent views. He made clear that he was thankful for Trump’s support but said he did not see a need to offer any apology for the public spat in the Oval Office.
Zelensky tried to focus on Putin as the figure to rally against — “Putin, with Russians, they’re enemies” — and wished that Trump would stand more firmly with Ukraine.
“I want, really, him to be more on our side,” Zelensky said. “It’s not just that the war began somewhere between our countries. The war began when Russia brought this war to our country. And they’re not right. They didn’t respect our territorial integrity.”
He said he had some regrets over the meeting — “I think it was not good” — but it was unclear whom he considered at fault.
Asked if his relationship with Trump could be salvaged, he said, “Yes, of course.”
The earlier encounter between the two presidents reverberated around the world in near real time. Senior leaders in Brussels were glued to it on their phones, officials said. One senior European diplomat said that it was important for Zelensky to fix the problem, quickly, with a statement that declared his respect for Trump. Another said that it was a final confirmation that Europe had lost its U.S. ally.
The officials and others spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of also inciting Trump’s ire.
The meeting’s most heated exchange came after Vance pointed to the need for diplomacy and criticized the Biden administration. Zelensky then recounted Putin’s actions in 2014 and said the world has emboldened him over time.
“Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said. “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelensky challenged him back — a striking shift from other foreign leaders who have been careful to shower the U.S. president and his entourage with praise. In the case of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer just one day earlier, his Oval Office visit included a personal letter from King Charles III.
“Have you ever been to Ukraine? Come once?” Zelensky asked Vance.
“You bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,” Vance responded and then challenged him over problems they’ve had with their military.
“First of all, during the war everybody has problems. Even you,” Zelensky said. “But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.”
That appeared to infuriate Trump, who repeatedly blasted the Ukrainian leader.
“You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. You’re in no position to dictate that,” he said, his voice rising.
“You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position,” he added. “You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”
“I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President,” Zelensky responded. “I’m very serious.”
Vance joined back in, asking: “Have you said thank you once, in this entire meeting?”
Zelensky said he has often thanked the American people for their support in the war effort. As Zelensky tried to speak again, Trump interrupted him.
“Wait a minute. No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking,” Trump said. “Your country is in big trouble.”
Trump eventually ordered reporters out of the room and, as they were leaving, offered an aside.
“This is going to be great television,” he said. “I will say that.”
Trump has declared his faith that Putin, too, wants to end the war and will abide by any peace agreement that is struck. He has held back from criticism of the Russian leader even as he has hit Zelensky. This week, he sided with Moscow and Pyongyang against Ukraine in a vote marking the war’s anniversary at the United Nations.
But Trump has often taken pains to be polite with other leaders when he has met them in person and has had positive face-to-face conversations with Zelensky in the past, something the Ukrainian leader was banking on when he rushed to Washington this week for the encounter.
White House officials, too, say that they had expected a friendly meeting. They blamed Zelensky’s handling of the conversation.
“Everybody in the room was expecting the exact opposite of the exchange today. It was not the plan for it to go that way,” a Trump administration official said.
Trump and Zelensky have a long history dating back to Trump’s first term. More recently, Trump has lavished attention on Putin and referred to Zelensky as a “dictator,” while also expressing hope over a deal for rare earth minerals.
Trump several times cast himself as a mediator between the two countries, saying he wanted to open up communications with Russia in a way that Biden’s administration would not, while also aligning himself with Ukraine by hosting Zelensky at the White House.
Some European officials said they believed the drama amounted to a prepared attack on Zelensky. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), appearing at the White House, told reporters after the heated meeting that he had warned Zelensky to proceed carefully — and was shocked that he didn’t. “I talked to Zelensky this morning,” Graham said. “Don’t take the bait.”
A senior Western diplomat grimaced at the combative scene, noting that U.S. and European officials had coordinated for weeks to try to avoid this very outcome given Trump’s thin skin and deep skepticism of Zelensky.
“I just don’t understand how Zelensky walked into the trap,” said the diplomat, noting Zelensky’s long-winded remarks that triggered the argument. “Your life literally depends on this man. If he starts throwing custard pies at you, you let him.”
Russia scholars and analysts were aghast.
If Zelensky is thinking strategically “he will accept that he cannot fix this personally and will instead appoint an envoy — someone respected in Washington who is not part of his current senior team — to try to get the train back onto the tracks in the coming weeks,” said Eric Ciaramella, a Russia and Eurasia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The alternative, I fear, is that Moscow and Washington will reach a deal over the heads of Ukrainians.”
John Hudson and Ellen Nakashima in Washington and Siobhan O’Grady in Kyiv contributed to this report.
Michael Birnbaum is a White House correspondent for The Washington Post, covering the Trump presidency. He previously covered national security and diplomacy from Washington and served more than a decade in Europe as The Post’s bureau chief in Brussels, Moscow and Berlin. He joined The Post in 2008. Send him secure tips on Signal at @mbwp.01.
Matt Viser is the White House bureau chief for The Washington Post. He has covered four administrations, as well as Congress, the State Department, and presidential campaigns. He joined The Post in October 2018, and was previously deputy chief of the Washington bureau for the Boston Globe. Send him secure tips on Signal at @mattviser.95
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