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Trump and Zelensky's Oval Office spat identifies limits of Western allies' ability to sway U.S. leader

Published: 02 Mar. 2025, 14:16

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, and President Donald Trump, center, have a heated discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

All it took was 90 seconds for weeks of tortured diplomacy to unwind in spectacular fashion.

President Donald Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday laid bare the limits of a full-court press by America’s allies aimed at reshaping Trump’s determination to end Russia’s invasion even if the terms are not to Ukraine’s liking.

It also stressed the profound ways Trump feels emboldened to redirect U.S. foreign policy priorities toward his “America First” agenda in ways that extend well beyond those of his tumultuous first term.

The sudden blowup was the most heated public exchange of words between world leaders in the Oval Office in memory, as the usual staid work of diplomacy descended into finger-pointing, shouting and eye-rolling.

The encounter left the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and Kyiv’s ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, speaks while attending a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

“You either make a deal or we are out,” Trump told Zelensky, underscoring the American leader’s plans to dictate a swift end to the war or leave its longtime ally to continue the fight without its strongest backer.

The stunning episode capped a week of what turned out to be largely futile efforts by U.S. allies to paper over differences between Washington and Kyiv and to try to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron huddled with Trump to lay the groundwork for an eventual European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine aimed at deterring future Russian aggression and to encourage the U.S. president to be more skeptical of Vladimir Putin.

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks during a meeting between US President Donald Trump, center, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

But even as Trump and Macron greeted each other with a vise-like grip, the U.S. was splitting with its European allies at the United Nations by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in a series of resolutions marking the three-year anniversary of the war.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington and appealed to Trump for a U.S. “backstop” for European nations who would provide frontline security for Ukraine. He was in essence looking for insurance that, should a peace deal be reached, Russia won’t restart the fighting in the future. Starmer brought flattery and a state visit invitation from King Charles III to soften the ask.

The approach seemed to work, as Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling America’s support for the country against Russia’s invasion “a very worthy thing to do” and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, in Washington. [AP/YONHAP]

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

But Trump also brushed aside Putin’s past broken diplomatic promises, claiming they occurred under different presidents, and saying the Russian leader had never violated a commitment to him. It came as his aides were planning a series of negotiating sessions with Russian officials to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.

All the while, Trump was focused on securing a financial stake in Ukraine’s critical minerals to recoup the tens of billions the U.S. has given to Kyiv to defend itself. Zelensky, meanwhile, wanted more than Washington’s vague promises that the U.S. would work to preserve its economic interest in Ukraine under the agreement and pushed for more concrete security guarantees.

But Trump would not budge, and U.S. officials repeatedly said Zelensky would not be welcome to meet with the president to discuss Trump’s push for negotiations with Russia until it was signed. After weeks of browbeating, Zelensky’s government on Wednesday formally agreed to the proposal, clearing the path for Friday’s meeting.

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, in Washington. [AP/YONHAP]

It started off cordially enough, as Trump and Zelensky spoke politely, even with admiration, of one of another for the first half-hour of the meeting. Trump even suggested he would continue some military assistance to Ukraine until he could secure an enduring peace deal with Russia.

But when the Ukrainian leader raised alarm about trusting any promises from Putin to end the fighting, Vice President JD Vance rebuked him for airing disagreements with Trump in public. It instantly shifted the tenor of the conversation. Zelensky grew defensive, and Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful and “disrespectful” and issued stark warnings about future American support.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, both a defense hawk and a strident ally of Trump’s, said he had warned Zelensky ahead of the meeting “not to take the bait” in his dealings with Trump, who has repeatedly shown a penchant for throwing criticism but a deep resistance to receiving it.

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28. [AP/YONHAP]

It was Vance — a longtime critic of American support for Ukraine — who dangled it, when he insisted diplomacy was the only pathway forward.

“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” Zelensky said, listing Russia’s past violations of ceasefires. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded before tearing into the Ukrainian leader. “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have a heated discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

Trump then let loose, warning the Ukrainian leader, “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”

At another point, Trump declared himself “in the middle,” seeming to formally break from years of American support for Ukraine. He went on to deride Zelensky’s “hatred” for Putin as a roadblock to peace.

“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said. “That’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”

Vice President JD Vance, right, and President Donald Trump, center, have a heated discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump said to Zelensky as the two leaders talked over each other.

The episode was just the latest instance of Trump's brazen moves to shift long-held American policy positions in his first six weeks back in office, portending even more uncertainty ahead for longtime American allies and partners who have already felt pressed to justify their place in Trump's eyes. It comes just weeks after Trump floated a permanent relocation of Palestinians in Gaza and an American takeover of the territory, and as he has doubled down on plans to put stiff tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting next week.

After the Oval Office dustup, Zelensky was asked to leave the White House by top Trump advisers — scrapping plans for a lunch, a joint press conference and the signing of the economic agreement, even as the Ukrainian leader and his aides pushed for a “reset” on the meeting.

President Donald Trump, right, has a heated discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC on Feb. 28. [UPI/YONHAP]

Trump later told reporters he didn’t want to “embolden” the Ukrainian leader if he didn’t want “peace” with Russia — flipping what Ukraine had seen as an inducement for security guarantees into a cudgel.

“You can’t embolden somebody who does not have the cards,” Trump said.

After the disastrous encounter, Zelensky appeared on Fox News on Friday evening and told Bret Baier that his public spat with Trump and Vance was “not good for both sides.” But Zelensky said Trump — who insists Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war — needs to understand that Ukraine can’t change its attitudes toward Russia on a dime.

Zelensky added that Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28. [AP/YONHAP]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, second to left, departs the White House after a contentious meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28. Zelensky left after being criticized by Trump and Vice President JD Vance for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in its war against Russia. [UPI/YONHAP]

“Everybody (is) afraid Putin will come back tomorrow,” Zelensky said. “We want just and lasting peace.”

“It’s so sensitive for our people,” Zelensky said. “And they just want to hear that America [is] on our side, that America will stay with us. Not with Russia, with us. That’s it.”

Zelensky acknowledged that without U.S. support, his country’s position would grow “difficult.”

After repeatedly declining opportunities to apologize to Trump, Zelensky closed his Fox appearance with a sheepish expression of remorse as he struggled with the reality of Trump's new direction in Washington: “Sorry for this."

AP