Trump humiliates Zelensky, boots him from White House
7 Min Read
After a shouting match, Trump asked his aides to kick Ukraine's president out of the White House.
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United States President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in Washington, the United States, on February 28, 2025. (AP)
United States President Donald Trump decided to kick Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the White House after a heated shouting match on Friday.
Trump invited the Ukrainian president to Washington, where the two were supposed to have lunch and hold a joint press conference. However, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, on one side, and Zelensky, on the other, hurled sharp accusations at each other in front of reporters in the Oval Office. Then reporters were told to leave the space.
"He (Zelensky) could have just acknowledged the vice president's remarks and moved on, but he couldn't bring himself to do it," a White House official told Axios, referring to remarks made by Vance about the need for diplomacy with Russia.
Notably, Trump repeatedly mocked Zelensky’s military-style attire. According to Axios, he was irritated that Zelensky opted against wearing a traditional suit to the meeting, especially after Trump's advisors told Zelensky's team that it would be more respectful if Zelensky wore a suit to the White House.
Commenting on the incident, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the world has got to see what US President Donald Trump has had to deal with behind closed doors in the Ukraine talks.
"It was President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, if you roll the tape, who actually antagonized the vice president in front of the cameras and picked a fight with him. And as President Trump said, I think it was great that the cameras were rolling because the American people and the entire world got to see what President Trump and his team have been dealing with behind closed doors in the negotiations with the Ukrainians, they've been, again, incredibly hard-headed, and all President Trump wants is peace, and in order to negotiate peace, both sides have to come to the table," Leavitt said in a Fox News interview.
She said both sides have to talk, and both sides in a good deal usually walk away a "little unhappy".
"President Zelenskyy fails to recognize that. And again, this is not the previous administration, Joe Biden is no longer in that Oval Office, we are no longer going to just write blank checks to a war very far away without real, lasting peace, and that's what the President wants," Leavitt added.
Read more: Russian forces close in on Kupyansk, 7 km from city
White House tells Ukrainian delegation its time to leave
According to Axios, Trump proceeded to discuss the situation with his top aides while Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials were seated in another room for around an hour.
Then, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz broke the news to the Ukrainian delegation, which was still hoping to sign a minerals deal with the US, telling them to leave, a senior White House official told Axios.
Reuters, citing a White House official, reported that Trump was currently not interested in resuming discussions with Ukraine on a minerals deal.
He also called off the signing of the rare earth minerals deal with Zelenskyy that was already ratified by the Ukrainian government.
Trump then posted on Truth Social, saying that Zelensky "disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office." The US president said Zelensky could come back when he is ready for peace.
Zelensky's visit, marred by insults and blame games, ended abruptly—leaving him without a minerals deal or any assurances of US military or financial support.
Read more: Trump, Zelensky did not sign minerals deal amid tense meeting
Zelensky refuses to apologize to Trump
The Washington Post reported that a European diplomat hoped that Zelensky would quickly fix the issue by declaring respect to Trump. Yet, after thanking the American people, Congress, and Trump in a post on X, Zelensky told Fox News that he does not owe Trump an apology.
Ahead of the meeting, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham advised Zelensky to avoid Trump's "bait" and focus on the "positives" of US-Ukraine relations. Now, he believes conducting "business" between the two countries may be out of reach.
On the other hand, Trump told reporters that his administration is "not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games."
Trump asserted that Zelensky "very much overplayed his hand," adding that he is looking for peace and "not somebody that's going to sign up a strong power and then not make peace because they feel emboldened."
"I want a ceasefire now," Trump told reporters while departing the White House for his Florida estate, saying he wanted fighting in Ukraine to end "immediately".
The US president accused Zelensky of "looking for something that I'm not looking for."
"He's looking to go on and fight, fight, fight."
Trump added that Russian President Vladimir Putin -- whom he said Friday he had "spoken (to) on numerous occasions" -- also "wants to end it."
"Either we're going to end it or let him fight it out. And if he fights it out, it's not going to be pretty, because without it, without us, he doesn't win," he concluded.
Zelensky must apologize for 'fiasco' at White House: Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a CNN interview called the meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House a "fiasco", calling on the Ukrainian president to apologize.
Zelensky must "apologize for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became," Rubio said.
The US state secretary said there was no need for Zelensky to go to the White House and become antagonistic, accusing him of not wanting peace in Ukraine.
However, Rubio expressed hope that relations with Ukraine can be reset into some “pragmatism”.
“My hope is that this [negotiation with Ukraine] all can be reset, and maturity can kick in and some pragmatism because tonight people will die in Ukraine, tonight, people will die in this conflict. We're trying to bring an end to this conflict which is unsustainable,” Rubio said on Friday night.
Moreover, the US Secretary of State asserted that the US president will seek to reach an agreement to resolve the war in Ukraine even if the peace chance is only 1%.
"If there's a chance of peace, even if it's a 1% chance, that needs to be explored. And that's what President Trump is trying to do here," Rubio said in the interview with CNN after the failed talks at the White House.
On the remark that Kiev would fall within three days, Rubio said this was not the Russian narrative suggesting that, but rather the assessment made by the Biden administration at the time.
“He [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] said ‘Yeah, yeah, we've heard that from the Russians.’ That's not a Russian narrative. That was the official position of the United States. I vividly recall being briefed by leaders in the Biden administration, telling us that this war was going to be over in five to six days. They believed that that was their assessment at the time,” Rubio said.
Read more: Trump tells Zelensky Ukraine is 'not winning,' warns of US withdrawal
