Trump and Zelensky Showdown

Matthew Willar

News Editor

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, entered the White House on Feb. 28, expecting to sign a minerals deal that would give the U.S. increased access to rare earth minerals in Ukraine. A deal that President Trump has repeatedly argued would get Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia. The two world leaders failed to execute their plan after the meeting turned into a full-blown shouting match, according to AP News.

The Zelensky-Trump relationship has been strained even before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. In 2019, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In a phone call he made with Zelensky, Trump tried to influence him to investigate the then-candidate Joe Biden by threatening withholding military aid to Ukraine.

Ever since the Russian invasion of Zelenksy’s country, Trump has been weary in his support of the U.S. sending immense aid to the country and has gone so far as to not say who he wants to win the war.

Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has insisted he would end the Russia-Ukraine war. This meeting signaled a possible step by the President to achieve his campaign promise. However, after a fiery exchange, the Ukrainian President was asked to leave the White House.

The two world leaders, sitting with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, got into a fiery exchange when Zelensky asked Vance, “…what kind of diplomacy are you talking about”, to which Vance responded with, “Mr. President, with respect I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media…You should be thanking the President for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”

Zelensky responded with, “You will feel it [effects of the minerals deal] in the future,” which caused Trump to jump in saying, “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.” This escalated to Trump telling Zelensky, “You’ve gotta be more thankful, because let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards,” according to CNN. Zelensky continued to assert himself by saying, “I’m not playing cards.”

The confrontation resulted in a planned joint press-conference not being held, with Trump’s last remarks to Zelensky being, “We have empowered you to be a tough guy…You either make a deal or we are out. You don’t have the cards,” according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Collins also reported that Trump ordered Zelensky to leave the White House.

Trump made a statement after the Oval Office meeting, saying, “…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,” according to Collins.

In an already scheduled interview with Bret Baier on Fox News, Zelensky responded to the exchange saying, “I respect [the] President and I respect [the] American people…I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad.”

The Ukrainian President added that it would be difficult to win the war against Russia without U.S. support. He said that he regretted what happened in the Oval Office but that his relationship with Trump could be salvaged. “relations more than two Presidents…its strong relations between our people,” said Zelensky, according to CNN.