Trump, Vance go off on Zelensky in contentious Oval Office spat
President Trump went off on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting in front of cameras on Friday in which he raised his voice and called the foreign leader “disrespectful.”
The meeting, which began cordially, devolved when Zelensky pressed Vice President Vance for suggesting that a diplomatic solution be reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
Zelensky in turn laid out years of Putin violently taking over Ukrainian territory, going back on previous ceasefires and refusing to exchange prisoners.
“What do you mean?” Zelensky asked Vance.
“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded. “I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try 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.”
Zelensky then suggested that the United States did not feel the ramifications of the war in Ukraine yet because of geography, but would feel it in the future, setting off Trump.
“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 replied. “We’re going to feel very good and very strong. You’re right now, not in a very good position.”
“You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards,” Trump said, gesturing toward Zelensky and raising his voice. “You’re 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.”
Vance asked Zelensky if he had said "thank you once" during the Oval Office meeting.
Zelensky replied, “Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war…”
“He’s not speaking loudly, your country’s in big trouble… you’re not winning this. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us,” Trump told Zelensky.
Vance also knocked Zelensky for a visit he made to a Pennsylvania ammunition plant in September, which Republicans took to be a campaign stop in support of the Biden-Harris administration.
“You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country,” Vance said.
Vance has repeatedly suggested that Ukraine cede territory in order to end the war with Russia, particularly before he ran as Trump’s running mate.
During a back and forth, Zelensky was repeatedly asked if he had said thank you for the billions in weapons the U.S. has sent Ukraine since the war started in 2022.
“If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks,” Trump said. “It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.”
“Just say thank you,” Vance added. “We know you’re wrong.”
Friday’s meeting was ostensibly going to be about an agreement for the U.S. to access critical minerals in Ukraine. Trump has argued the deal would boost the Ukrainian economy and help the U.S. recoup money it has provided to Ukraine in fighting Russian forces.
Just after the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that Zelensky was “not ready for peace” and suggested he was cutting off talks with the Ukrainian leader.
Monday marked three years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine after amassing troops on the border and demanding a ban on Ukraine ever joining NATO. The invasion took place nearly a decade after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Updated 1:40 p.m.
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