Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky‘s Oval Office meeting erupted into an unprecedented and bitter fight, sending shockwaves across the world.
During the spectacular and extended bust-up, a red-faced Trump accused Zelensky of ‘gambling with World War III’ and at one point shoved the Ukraine leader.
Tempers flared with Vice President J.D. Vance also weighing in to give Zelensky a dressing down.
The extraordinarily angry confrontation threatened to overshadow talks for a ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Afterwards, Zelensky immediately left the White House and a joint press conference was canceled.
Later, Trump renewed his attacks, saying Zelensky wanted to ‘fight, fight, fight’ and didn’t want to make peace.
Our live coverage has now ended but for a full recap see below.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to apologize and said he wants Donald Trump to be ‘more on our side’ during his first major interview since a disaster White House press conference with Trump and JD Vance.
The tense war of words played out inside the Oval Office Friday and quickly went off the rails when Trump took offense of how Zelensky treated his vice president JD Vance in front of the cameras.
Zelensky, speaking to Fox News, was asked point blank if he owed Trump an apology and twice filibustered before refusing and instead attempting to be gracious and added ‘I’m not sure we did something bad.’
‘We’re thankful to Americans for all your support, you did a lot, I’m thankful to President Trump and Congress‘ bipartisan support,’ Zelensky said.
‘You helped us a lot from the very beginning, you helped us to survive. We are strategic partners.’
When asked again, he refused again and tried to explain his own position.
‘We have to be honest and we have to be direct with each other. Nobody wants to finish more than we because we are in this war, in this battle for freedom for our lives,’ he said.
The Ukrainian leader said he needs Trump to be ‘on the same side’ and needs him to stop Vladimir Putin.
‘I want President Trump to be more on our side,’ he said when Baier asked if he felt it was okay for Trump to be ‘in the middle’ of negotiations.
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to apologize in his first major interview since his disaster brawl and public meltdown with Donald Trump and JD Vance
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A verbal spat between Ukrainian President Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance kicked off an angry Oval Office meeting
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‘Trump said he will stop the war and I hope he will. We need to pressure him with Europe.’
Zelensky then attempted to quote former President Ronald Reagan in saying what he wanted in a deal.
‘Peace is not just the absence of war. We are speaking of a just, lasting peace,’ he said.
Zelensky also said that Trump was lying when the president said that he wants to go back into the White House and have a do-over right now.
‘No. First of all, we want peace, that’s why we are in the US. The deal on minerals is the first step to security guarantees, it’s the first step closer to peace. We have a tough situation, to understand it is to be in Ukraine,’ he said.
He added: ‘But I respect my soldiers and our people, our civilians who work and support our warriors. I can’t just say stop because everyone is afraid that Putin will come back tomorrow.’
Zelensky added that he respects Trump and the American people but reiterated that he felt he was being honest.
‘I think this kind of spat is not good for both sides. I can’t change our Ukranian attitude to Russia. They are killers for us. This is very clear that Americans are the best friends, Europeans are the best friends. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want peace, we recognize the reality of the situation.’
Trump to Zelensky ‘I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without US”
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Zelensky, speaking to Fox News, was asked point blank by Bret Baier if he owed Trump an apology and twice filibustered before refusing and instead attempting to be gracious and added ‘I’m not sure we did something bad’
Do you believe Zelensky should apologize?
He also said that his country wants peace and diplomacy and said they are willing to negotiate, going against what Trump said that he wants to ‘fight fight fight.’
‘Ukraine wants peace and we will have diplomacy, we will have negotiations. It’s about just and lasting peace, we have to be very strong at the table of negotiations,’ he said.
Baier asked him lastly if his relationship with Trump was repairable after this mess.
‘Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents. It’s strong relations between our people and that’s why I always thank your people from our people.’
White House officials told DailyMail.com the stunning confrontation was not any kind of premeditated tag-team operation designed to humiliate the supplicant Zelensky to try to buckle his hard-line negotiating stance or somehow gain advantage in a scuttled rare earth minerals deal.
Trump had been pleasant with Zelensky to start their interactions – although Trump’s first comment, caught on a hot-mic, was a glib remark about his informal clothing. (Zelensky has underdressed as a statement since Russia‘s 2022 invasion of his country.)
‘Zelensky should not have gone after JD,’ said a senior White House official in the minutes after the stunning confrontation played out on television. The official said Zelensky’s digs prompted Trump, 78, to defend his 40-year-old Number Two – and the situation quickly escalated.
The clash with the VP that kicked off the angry back-and-forth came in a meeting where Zelensky was on Trump’s turf in an effort to try to gain security guarantees in a rare earth minerals deal that Trump says will provide a form of protection by putting U.S. business interests inside his country.
Donald Trump says Zelensky did not ‘look like he wanted peace’
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Sources said the clash was unplanned, and that Zelensky should not have tangled with the VP inside the Oval Office
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The White House was looking for appreciation. Instead, some of Zelensky’s gestures got interpreted as if he couldn’t tolerate what he was hearing.
‘This was not planned at all,’ said one source familiar with the situation, denying it was any kind of premeditated ambush.
As hot as things got inside the Oval Office, there were indications President Trump was relishing the blowup after it unfolded.
‘This is going to be great television, I will say that,’ Trump remarked at the end.
Trump called on a U.S.-based Polish reporter who pressed him on the U.S. posture toward Russia. Trump called the question ‘stupid’. But then later on in an exchange that lasted 50 minutes, Trump called on the same reporter – whose queries prompted Vance to say Ukraine had been ungrateful for billions in U.S. support.
Vance blamed previous Democratic U.S. administrations for failing to stop Russia, but Zelensky tried to shift the conversation back to Putin. ‘He killed people,’ he said.
‘What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about,’ the Ukrainian asked, referring to Vance by his first name rather than his formal title.
The remark set off Vance – who lectured Zelensky, and then got told off by the visitor for failing to visit Ukraine as a senator, even while many others made the pilgrimage.
‘I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President [Zelensky]. Mr. President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,’ said Vance.
‘Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see the problems we have?’ Zelensky asked Vance, who last April in the Senate voted against a package with $61 billion in aid for Ukraine.
‘I have been to – I’ve actually, I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people. You bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,’ Vance shot back.
Then Trump jumped in to defend his vice president. ‘You’ve allowed to be in a very bad position, and it happens to be right about that. YOu’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now.’
‘I’m not playing cards,’ Zelensky responded, speaking over him.
‘Have you said thank you once?’ Vance blasted Zelensky at one point in the conflagration.
‘Just say thank you,’ Vance told him. ‘I said it a lot of times,’ Zelensky responded.
Zelensky’s first words had been: ‘Thank you so much, Mr. President, thank you for the invitation’ – although Vance appeared to be seeking gratitude for the massive infusion of military aid.
Zelensky could have a beef with Zelensky over some of his past comments. ‘I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,’ Vance said back in 2022, even as members of both parties were rallying around the country.
And when Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference this month, he elevated free speech issues over the Russia threat.
‘The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia. It’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,’ Vance said at the time. ‘What I worry about is the threat from within — the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.’
