Geraldo Rivera: Zelensky walked into Oval Office 'ambush'

Media pundit Geraldo Rivera weighed in on the heated meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying during an interview that Kyiv’s leader walked into an Oval Office “ambush.”

“I just could not believe what I was seeing. It's President Trump at his worst. President Trump as an ill-mannered bully insulting a war hero. This wasn't an Oval Office photo-op. This was an ambush,” Rivera said during his Friday appearance on NewsNation.

“They wanted to have him in a place where they could humiliate him. And what role indeed, did the Vice President JD Vance play, you know — a disrespectful neophyte who chips in. You know, what was he even doing? Why did President Trump need him for the for the photo-op,” Rivera, a television personality, told NewsNation's host Connell McShane.

The contentious meeting between Kyiv and Washington kicked off in a cordial manner, but it spiraled into shouting and finger-pointing, with the Ukrainian delegation departing the White House earlier than scheduled after a joint press conference was scrapped.

Trump and Vance contended that Zelensky was not grateful for the military assistance the U.S. has provided in recent years and accused him of lacking the leverage needed to strike a peace agreement with Russia.

Zelensky then pressed Vance on his assertion that a peace agreement can be forged with the Kremlin to end the three-year war in eastern Europe. Ukraine’s leader pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to exchange prisoners, constant attacks on Ukraine and backtracking on other ceasefire efforts.

Vance told Zelensky he was being “disrespectful” for coming to Washington and trying to “litigate this in front of the American media.”

“Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems, you should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to his conflict,” Vance said Friday.

Due to its distance from the conflict, the U.S. has not felt the direct implications of the three-year war, something that could change in the years to come, Zelensky told the president and the vice president.

“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel because you’re in no position … to dictate what we’re going to feel,” Trump responded. “We’re going to feel very good and very strong. You’re right now not in a very good position.”

Trump contended that without U.S. support Ukraine lacks “cards.”

“With us, you start having cards,” Trump stated, warning that Zelensky is gambling with the lives of millions of people. "You’re gambling with World War III … and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”

Rivera claimed Friday that Vance’s conduct during the meeting “seemed almost scripted” and argued people “will die” because of the heated back-and-forth.

“And I think people will die. People will die as a result of this catastrophe, because there won't be aid flowing, I believe as necessary,” Rivera said.

“This will interfere with real life. This wasn't just theatrics. This was policy being acted out. I believe this whole thing was scripted by the Trump administration, and I think that they went in there with the intent of making Zelensky look bad,” he added.

Rivera, who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris during her failed 2024 presidential run, said the souring relationship between Washington and Kyiv will instill further confidence in the Russian military.

“But I'm more concerned with the facts on the ground in Ukraine, in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army, I think, will be emboldened this,” he said. “The Ukrainian army will feel beleaguered, deserted by its No. 1 supplier of weapons to fight for its life.”

Later on Friday, Trump stated that Zelensky is not ready to make a peace agreement with Russia, had “disrespected” the U.S. and can return to the White House “when he is ready for peace.”

Zelensky thanked Trump and added that Ukraine “needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

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