What led to Donald Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky's ugly showdown at Oval Office?

1. What led to Donald Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky's ugly showdown at Oval Office?

What led to Donald Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky's ugly showdown at Oval Office? ByHT News Desk Mar 01, 2025 02:35 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Fox News reported that tempers had flared even before the Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky meeting began.

It took just 90 seconds for weeks of intense diplomacy to fall apart. In the Oval Office on Friday, President Donald Trump openly reprimanded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, making it clear that, despite relentless efforts from US allies, he remains determined to end Russia’s invasion—whether or not the terms work in Ukraine’s favour.

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. (AFP)

As President Donald Trump greeted Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, he told reporters it was an honour to welcome the Ukrainian leader for an “exciting moment” — signing a landmark deal securing access to critical minerals in Ukraine meant to pave the way for a peace agreement with Russia.

Less than two hours later, Zelensky was rushing out of the West Wing into an idling SUV, his relationship with Ukraine’s most critical ally in tatters.

Prospects for a signing ceremony — much less a landmark accord with Russia resolving three years of conflict — had vaporised. And as Trump posted social media missives blasting Zelensky as an ingrate who had insulted the United States, stunned officials in Washington and across the world wondered if repairing the rift was even possible, Bloomberg reported.

Fox News reported that from the moment the Oval Office event began, the dynamic between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky was noticeably different from the two other press events Trump held with world leaders this week.

Citing unnamed sources close to Zelensky, Fox News reported that tempers had flared even before the meeting began. The Ukrainian president was apparently presented with a minerals for security agreement by the Trump administration prior to the press briefing, but the deal included no security guarantees to protect Ukraine from another Russian invasion.

Before his US visit, Zelensky repeatedly warned that Kyiv needed these security assurances to reach a mineral agreement. Even so, he angered Trump and Vance by rejecting the deal, the report added, citing the source.

When reporters asked their first questions, an aggressive spat unfolded between the two leaders and JD Vance that left officials behind the scenes scrambling to understand how the situation fell apart so quickly, the Fox News report said.

“We cannot just sign an… agreement without any substantial guarantees,” one Ukrainian defence advisor told Fox News Digital. "It’s not going to work. It’s just going to reward the aggressor."

The Ukrainian leader's refusal to sign a deal apparently contributed to the ire of Trump and JD Vance.

The White House, however, had yet to confirm the discussions that had occurred before the press briefing.

While the argument erupted quickly, the kindling had been laid out over the course of years. Trump has long complained about Ukraine and its leader. The president has long seen the country, situated as a bulwark between the Europe and Russia, as endemic of unnecessary US involvement abroad, demanding resources and security guarantees when it instead should have followed his lead in cultivating a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The mineral deal Trump demanded — itself a pressure tactic on Kyiv — went unsigned, immediately delivering a destabilising signal to allies including the UK and Germany that had sought to broker some path to avoid abandoning Ukraine. And the scene was certain to reverberate through domestic US politics, where critics have long argued that Trump is too cozy with Russia.

The tone was set even before Zelensky stepped into the White House.

“You’re all dressed up,” Trump told Zelensky as he arrived in snug black clothing, consistent with the wartime attire he’s donned since Russia’s invasion. Zelensky and his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, have refused to wear suits since the invasion, though Yermak broke that streak by wearing one Friday.

The offhand remark might have been nothing, but it teed up a similar question in the Oval Office from Brian Glenn, a reporter with the staunchly pro-Trump outlet Real America’s Voice.

“Why don’t you wear a suit?” Glenn asked Zelensky, prompting laughter. “A lot of Americans have a problem with you not respecting the dignity of this office.”

Zelensky bristled but brushed it off. Maybe, he allowed, he would don a suit when the war is over, though, perhaps, he quipped, it would be something a little “cheaper.”