After Heated Oval Office Exchange, Trump Ends Pivotal Meeting With Zelensky Early

28 Feb 2025, 18:46 by Brian Bennett · TIME

By Brian Bennett
Updated: February 28, 2025 6:50 PM EST | Originally published: February 28, 2025 1:46 PM EST

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky wouldn’t concede the point. A tense Oval Office meeting Friday that was supposed to end in Ukraine agreeing to share mining resources with the U.S. devolved into a heated argument as President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance insisted Ukraine should express more gratitude for U.S. support and agree to a ceasefire with Russia, even without clear security guarantees from the U.S.

“You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump told Zelensky, as the two interrupted each other during a forceful exchange in front of TV cameras.

“We’re not playing cards,” Zelensky shot back. Ukraine's leader repeatedly interrupted Trump and insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted, noting he had already broken ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreements.

Trump bristled at Zelensky pushing back and his voice became sharper. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump said.

Shortly afterwards, Trump canceled a planned press conference with Zelensky and cut off negotiations, writing on Truth Social that Zelensky had “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

It was a scene unlike any before seen by the public in the Oval Office. Usually in such appearances, two world leaders smile for the cameras and shake hands for the press. The tough negotiations typically happen away from the cameras. But the simmering tensions between the two leaders boiled over in full view, with clips of the meeting immediately gaining attention around the world.

The two leaders had been poised to sign an historic agreement on Friday to set up a joint investment fund for rebuilding Ukraine that would have allowed the U.S. to profit off mining rare earth minerals in the war-torn country. Ukraine was prepared to put 50% of future revenues from the country’s oil, gas and minerals into the fund. That deal now appears dead. Zelensky was told to leave the White House early, and a planned press conference with the two leaders was cancelled.

It’s a major setback for Ukraine. The investment deal was brokered by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and others as a way to keep Trump interested in backing Ukraine’s security while brokering a peace negotiation between Putin and Zelensky.

Trump has expressed frustration with how much the U.S. is spending on military assistance to Ukraine and has said he wants European countries to spend more on security assistance to Ukraine. In three years, the U.S. Congress has allocated more than $175 billion in security and development assistance to Kyiv, according to the Congressional Research Service. In his post on TruthSocial, Trump rebuked Zelensky for operating as if “our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”

The Trump Administration

After the meeting, Zelensky tried to repair the damage. “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that,” Zelensky wrote on X.

But even Zelensky’s Republican allies like Graham thought that the meeting with Trump may have done more damage than can be repaired. Graham told reporters at the White House that he had counseled Zelensky earlier in the day to stay positive and not to “take the bait” during the meeting with Trump and that security guarantees could be worked out later. Graham said that the meeting was “a complete and utter disaster” and Zelensky either needs to resign “or he needs to change.”

The long Oval Office appearance grew heated when Zelensky repeatedly insisted that Putin could not be trusted and a ceasefire agreement wasn’t sufficient without security guarantees from the U.S. Vance, sitting on a couch next to Trump, interjected, saying that the Biden administration had “talked tough” about Putin and that didn’t prevent Putin from taking more of Ukraine. Vance said it was "disrespectful" for Zelensky to sit in the Oval Office and “try to litigate this in front of the American media.” He said that Ukraine has “manpower problems” in the war and should be thanking Trump for working to bring an end to the fighting.

But Zelensky wasn’t backing down. He described how Ukraine had negotiated ceasefire and prisoner swap agreements with Putin in the past, but Putin didn’t uphold his end of the bargain. “What kind of diplomacy, J.D., you are speaking about?” Zelensky said, breaking with typical decorum and using the vice president’s initials. The Ukrainian president told Vance he should visit Ukraine. “Come once,” he said.

Zelensky told Vance that if Putin is allowed to continue his aggression in Ukraine, the U.S. would eventually feel threatened from Russia. “You have a nice ocean. You don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future,” Zelensky said.

That’s when Trump jumped in. “Don’t tell us what we’re gonna feel,” Trump said. Trump said he had let the exchange continue in front of the press so that the public could see where the disagreement is between the leaders. “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful. You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there. Your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good decision — then you tell us, I don’t want a ceasefire,” Trump said.

Soon after the striking Oval Office meeting, a host of European leaders took to social media to express their support for Ukraine. "Dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone," wrote Polish Prime Minister David Tusk on X. "Ukraine, Spain stands with you," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared.

"Ukraine is not alone" added Annalena Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister. "Germany together with our European allies stands united alongside #Ukraine - and against the Russian aggression. Ukraine can build on unwavering support from Germany, Europe and beyond.

"Sweden stands with Ukraine. You are not only fighting for your freedom but also for all of Europe’s. Slava Ukraini!" wrote Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish Prime Minister. Zelensky responded to many of the posts with "Thank you for your support."

Zelensky had been due to participate in an onstage discussion later in the day with the Hudson Institute. Soon after he left the White House, the event was cancelled. Zelensky did keep his planned interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Friday evening. Asked if he would apologize to Trump for what he said in the Oval Office, Zelensky initially dodged the question, saying he was grateful to Trump and to the American people for the support given to Ukraine since Putin launched a full scale invasion in 2022.

When Baier pressed him on whether he owed Trump an apology, Zelensky said “no”. He respects Trump and the American people, he said. "I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad," Zelensky said.

James Goldgeier, a professor of international relations at American University, says the meeting with Trump was “definitely a setback” for Zelensky. The testy exchange exposed that Trump “has zero interest in Ukraine, and he’s annoyed that President Zelensky’s desire to continue to save his country is getting in the way of some Trump deal.”

When Zelensky continued to push back against Trump’s eagerness to work with Putin during the Oval Office argument, Trump launched into his long-standing anger at being investigated during his first term over Russia’s efforts to help his 2016 campaign. He said efforts by Democratic administrations to stop Putin in Ukraine failed because Putin didn’t respect Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden. “They respect me. Let me tell you. Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt,” Trump said.

That tirade showed that Trump is “filled with this sense of anger and grievance,” Goldgeier says. “I don’t believe he’s standing up for America’s interest in this situation—he’s just catering to Putin and sees Ukraine as an annoyance and he just let it all out.”

Daniel Fried, a former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, says Vance seemed like he wanted to pick a fight with Zelensky, and the squabble laid bare a conflict among Trump’s own advisers. “The real fight was not Trump and Vance against Zelensky, but a fight within the administration, between those who would like to see a Trump peace plan work and him get the credit, but have Ukraine survive as an independent country, even if without some territory for the time being—and others who want to simply forgo that option and weaken Ukraine and do some deal with Putin.”

At the end of his Friday evening Fox News interview, Zelensky was asked if he thought his relationship with Trump could be “salvaged.“ After asking an interpreter to translate the word, Zelensky said “Yes, of course because it’s relations more than two presidents.” There are “strong relations” between our two people, he said, and it is the American people who have helped “to save” Ukrainians. “We are thankful. Sorry for this. We wanted very much to have strong relations, and I am very confident we will have it,” he said.