President Donald Trump‘s visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House derailed into heated outbursts on camera, endangering the Trump administration’s progress on negotiating a precursory rare earth minerals agreement and an end to the war in Ukraine.
The palpable tension, including the president yelling at Zelensky, played out before reporters brought into the Oval Office, and it resulted in the cancellation of the leaders’ scheduled joint press conference and Zelensky’s premature exit from the White House. The US-Ukraine mineral deal that prompted Friday’s visit was never signed.
“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,” Trump said in a statement following the meeting. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
The Oval Office meeting, which, at one point, saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance accuse Zelensky of being “disrespectful” to the U.S., was unprecedented. Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, was in the Oval Office and had her head in her hands throughout the argument.
Trump, at least, joked that the heated exchange made for “great television.”
The meeting started amicably, though the president did slight Zelensky for wearing a long-sleeved Henley T-shirt upon his arrival, joking, “He’s all dressed up” to reporters.
Zelensky opened by showing photographs from the war as a reminder of Russia’s aggression and the toll it has had on his people. He also brought Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk and his championship belt.
Trump then spoke about his legacy if he could negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine.
“I hope I’m going to be remembered as a peacemaker,” he said. “I’m doing this to save lives — more than anything else.”
But even while seated next to Zelensky, Trump was hesitant to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion and defended his own public comments regarding Putin in recent days.
“You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal?’ It doesn’t work that way,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world.”
Tensions fully boiled over when Vance accused Zelensky of not saying “thank you” to the president, to which Zelensky challenged the vice president to visit Ukraine.
“You went to Pennsylvania to campaign for the opposition,” the vice president continued, referencing a September visit the Ukrainian president made to the 2024 battleground with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump proceeded to chime in after Zelensky attempted to counter Vance’s critiques. “You’ve got to be more thankful because, let me tell you, you don’t have the cards.”
“This was supposed to be over quickly, and here we are three years later,” he said. “You have to be very proud, but now we want to get it over with. It’s enough.”
A source familiar with the White House meeting contended Trump and Vance “were caught off guard by Zelensky’s antics” and that they did not plan to have an acrimonious meeting ahead of time.
After Zelensky left the White House, he posted a thank-you note to Trump, Congress, and the American people.
“Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that,” he added.
Trump received criticism from both sides of the aisle for his outburst.
Former Bush administration adviser Karl Rove said on Fox News that “the only winner out of today is Vladimir Putin.”
“This is a mistake to have it broadcast. It was a mistake for Zelensky to get his dander up. It was a mistake for the president and vice president to be so public in their comments,” he continued.
Andrew Bates, a senior deputy press secretary under former President Joe Biden, told the Washington Examiner that Trump is catering to Putin’s wishes, at the detriment of the public.
“President Zelensky is fighting for America’s national security interests and values a hell of a lot better than Donald Trump is,” he said in a statement.
Zelensky’s visit comes after a roller coaster in relations between him and Trump.
The pair’s relationship dates back to 2019 and the phone call that precipitated Trump’s first impeachment.
In the Oval Office before his meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump acknowledged his relationship with Zelensky has been “testy” at times.
In recent weeks, the relationship has eroded further. Zelensky was resistant to the U.S. terms of a rare earth minerals deal despite the Ukrainian president initially proposing it. The first drafts of an agreement, though, included U.S. demands for $500 billion, more than what the U.S. has provided Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. has provided Ukraine with $350 billion in aid, but the number is closer to half of that.
Trump has also said Ukraine and former President Joe Biden were responsible for the war, regardless of Russia being the aggressor. Trump’s allegations prompted Zelensky to describe the president as living in a “disinformation” space, with Trump responding that Zelensky is a “dictator” because Ukraine has suspended elections, an emergency power permitted under the country’s constitution.
But as Zelensky warmed to the minerals deal, even without traditional security guarantees, so, too, has his relationship with Trump, until Friday’s public lashing.
Beside Starmer in the Oval Office and then in the East Room for the pair’s joint press conference, Trump was pushed to defend his description of Zelensky as a “dictator.”
“Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump said.
‘DID I SAY THAT’: TRUMP QUESTIONS WHETHER HE CALLED ZELENSKY A ‘DICTATOR’
Then, during the press conference, Trump was asked whether he owed Zelensky an apology for using the descriptor. In reaction, the president adopted a more deferential tone.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” he said. “We’ve given them a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely, no matter how you figure it.”
