President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a horrific Oval Office meeting over a ‘lack of gratitude
Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting to discuss peace in Ukraine turned into a circus on Friday, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouting at the Ukrainian leader.
The US administration welcomed Zelensky to the White House after Trump called his counterpart a ‘dictator’, but it quickly descended into chaos in the Oval Office.
In a horrific tag team attack, Vance started grilling Zelensky on what he described as a “propaganda tour” for Kamala Harris during the 2024 US election campaign.
Slamming the Ukrainian leader as “disrespectful”, Vance’s shock tirade left Zelensky struggling to get a word in edgeways.
Vance cried: “You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words to the United States of America and the president who is trying to save your country.”
When Zelensky told Vance to stop “speaking loudly” to get his point across, an angered Trump replied: “He’s not speaking loudly, your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning this.”
Zelensky said they needed to stay strong, having been alone during the war, but got no respite.
“We gave you through the stupid president $350 billion,” cried Trump, who added: “It will be very difficult to do business like this.”
After Vance told Zelensky to say ‘thank you’, Trump said: “You have to be thankful, you don’t have the cards, people are dying. You don’t have the soldiers.”
“If you could get a ceasefire right now I would say to take it so the bullets will stop flying.
Reporters inside the Oval Office were visibly horrified by what they were witnessing.
Zelensky’s delegation was expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the US, aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come.
The deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security. But it leaves that to a separate agreement to be discussed between the two leaders.
This is Zelenskyy’s fifth White House visit, but his previous four came during the Biden administration, and he is also set to meet with US senators during his time in Washington.
If a truce can be reached, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to send troops for a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine to ensure that fighting between Ukraine and Russia doesn’t flare up again
