Friday’s performance by Team Trump in the Oval Office was nothing short of a classic example of how to shoot yourself in the foot. Or, as argued in The Hill, fumbling the football in the endzone and letting Russian President Vladimir Putin recover it.
The theatrics in the Oval Office was all about delegitimizing President Volodymyr Zelensky in the eyes of the world. Doing so played right into a Putin talking point. The Trump administration crassly views Zelensky as a roadblock in the “peace” process and wants to remove him.
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This was all about setting conditions for that to happen.
Even Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) claims he foresaw what would transpire. “I told him this morning, ‘Don’t take the bait. Don’t let the media or anyone else get you into an argument with President [Donald] Trump. What he’s doing today is resetting the relationship.’”
The White House is seeking to strike a “deal” with the man responsible for the invasion of Ukraine, for war crimes committed against the Ukrainian people and prisoners of war, and for acts of genocide conducted by Russia to eradicate Ukraine and its culture: Putin.
Zelensky stands in the way. He will not submit, neither to Putin nor Trump.
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Vice President J.D. Vance’s role in the show was clearly to antagonize Zelensky, then gas light the president. He was successful at both.
Four words would doom the outcome of the meeting – respect, disrespect, and thank you.
But it began with Trump’s reception of Zelensky at the White House, who arrived in his signature attire – a black sweatshirt featuring an embroidered Ukrainian trident, black slacks and boots. The US president greeted him sarcastically by asking, “Oh you’re all dressed up,” then repeated the quip for the benefit of journalists standing by.
Later in the Oval Office, Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for conservative cable network Real America’s Voice, stoked the fire by asking Zelensky: “Why don’t you wear a suit? Do you own a suit?” Zelensky responded: “Do you have a problem?” Glenn then responded: “A lot of Americans have a problem with you not respecting the office.” Apparently, however, Elon Musk gets a pass. Ditto athletes appearing in team uniforms or civvies.
Zelensky replied: “I will wear a costume [from Ukrainian, meaning suit] after this war finishes, Yes. Maybe something like yours, yes, maybe something better. I don’t know, we will see. Maybe something cheaper. Thank you.”
It was all downhill from there.
Scolding
During a press spray, an arrogant Vance cut Zelensky off and scolded him for his comments. He first accused him of leading “propaganda tours” when referring to Western dignitaries visiting the locations of Russia’s war crimes near Kyiv, then said: “I think it’s disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
As a result, Trump became more agitated. And Zelensky, understandably, began to scowl back at Vance.
Vance concluded his tirade by telling Zelensky: “You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.” He later asked Zelensky: “Have you said ‘thank you’ once, this entire meeting? No, in this entire meeting, have you said, ‘thank you.’”
Despite Graham’s best effort to forewarn Zelensky, neither Vance’s comments nor the president’s sat well with him, and it was game on. Putin underestimated Zelensky and now, it seems, so too did Trump and Vance.
As Professor Phillips O’Brien, an international relations professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland correctly observed: “[Trump] was trying to pressure Zelensky into agreeing to a cease-fire along Putin’s lines, and Zelensky refused… Trump comes out and says that explicitly at the end.”
Trump’s final words to Zelensky were: “Make a deal or we are out” – referring to the rare earth minerals (REM) deal. No deal was made, and the Ukrainian delegation was escorted out of the White House.
Team Trump got the response they wanted, immediately launching a propaganda campaign to exploit the outcome of the meeting.
Aftermath
Senator Ted Cruz (R- TX) responded: “President Zelensky had an epic meltdown in the Oval Office – he crashed and burned.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Zelensky should “apologize to President Trump over [the] heated Oval Office showdown,” expressing doubt over whether the Ukrainian leader wants to forge a peace agreement to end the war in Eastern Europe.
Trump later posted on X: “I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
By Saturday afternoon, even Graham was throwing Zelensky under the bus, tweeting on X that “President Trump gave a master class on how to stand up for America.” Earlier, Graham had posted that Zelensky’s “behavior was beyond unacceptable and [that his] lectures [to Americans] are wearing thin.”
Not surprisingly, the White House equivalent of a shootout at the O.K. Corral played out well in Moscow. Russian officials quickly began piling on.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote on X: “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office. [The] @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII.’” On Telegram, he added that Zelenskyy got “a fierce scolding in the Oval Office,” and called him a “cocaine clown.” He added: “The ungrateful swine got a hard slap in the face from the owners of the pigsty. That’s a good thing, but not enough.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram: “How Trump and Vance exercised restraint and didn’t punch this scumbag is a miracle of restraint.”
And Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of Russia’s senate, posted on Telegram: “Zelensky lost this round with a deafening crash. And he will have to crawl on his knees for the next one.”
Even NATO chief Mark Rutte seems to side with White House, telling Zelensky he needs to find a way to restore his relationship with Trump after their clash at a White House.
The real purpose of “the deal”
Let’s be candid here. The rare earth minerals deal was never about a peace deal for Ukraine; rather, how the US could financially benefit from the raw materials that reside under the Donbas. To get to those raw materials, the Trump administration needs for the war to end – and not necessarily under conditions serving the best interests of Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Laura Ingram on Fox News that Zelensky had already twice refused to sign a minerals deal with the US.
Prior to the White House fiasco, both National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said they ‘expected’ Zelensky to sign the deal. As we stated in The Hill, Trump, in his pursuit of the title Don of the Donbas, had resorted to mafioso tactics to secure a deal.
Zelensky was prepared to sign the deal, but sought security guarantees the US had no intent on providing. And there was the rub. REM was strictly a business deal – one that sent an implied message to Putin that an unidentified portion of the Donbas region would be a US interest. It never established a cease fire, a border, the return of kidnapped Ukrainian children or prisoners of war, or restitution for that matter.
Belittling the Ukrainian president in front of a global media was Team Trump’s solution – not standing up to an actual dictator who invaded a neighboring country, and who has a warrant out for his arrest. Peace at the expense of Ukraine. Naively and unbeknownst, setting conditions for an eventual Russian victory.
Team Trump needs Ukraine to stop resisting – and that means getting Zelensky out of the way. Sadly, that appears to have been their intent going into Friday’s meeting at the Oval Office.
Even Graham, who warned Zelensky of the trap he was entering, is now calling for him to resign or be dismissed.
Zelensky would later appear on Fox News with Bret Baier. During the interview, he did not offer an apology to the US president when asked, and said that he “respect[ed] the president and … the American people.” Zelensky added: “I think that we have to be very open and very honest and I’m not sure that we did something bad.”
“Ukraine first” position
Zelensky took what can be termed a “Ukraine First” position going into the White House. He is both a Ukrainian patriot and hero, and did not need Trump or Vance to lecture him on a war he has been fighting for the past three years. He was prepared to work with the US, but only with security guarantees in place.
Zelensky boarded a plane back to Europe empty handed – but not without gratitude for all that the US had done for him and his country over the past three years. Isn’t it ironic that the country in the fight still has the will to win while the country, as Zelensky reminded Vance, separated by an ocean, has grown tired?
In the aftermath of the White House’s version of the O.K. Corral, European leaders took to social media to voice their support of Ukraine. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Zelensky: “You have the FULL backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it may take.”
Last Monday, Politico reported that the EU had extended their version of a “critical materials” deal to Ukraine. Europe’s Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné said: “The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that’s not mutually beneficial.”
While refuted the next day by European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier, events in Washington on Friday – a shift in the kaleidoscope – provides new opportunities for Europe to step up in the defense of Ukraine.
The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.
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