During a meeting at the Oval Office, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in front of reporters. Speaking with Fox News’s Brett Baier, Zelensky said an apology from himself was not needed.
“No, I respect [the] president and I respect American people,” Zelensky responded. “And I’m not sure that we did something bad.”
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Still, Zelensky said he and Trump’s relationship was not harmed beyond repair.
“[Ukrainian-U.S.] relations, more than to the president in the historical relations, strong relations between our people,” Zelensky responded when asked if his relationship with Trump could be “salvaged.”
“That’s why I always began to thank your people from our people, and this is the most important and, of course, thankful to the president and, of course, to Congress,” he said. “But first of all, to your people.”
During the clash, Trump scolded Zelensky, and Vance said the Ukrainian president was being “disrespectful” for coming “into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media.” The meeting resulted in the cancellation of a lunch and a scheduled joint press conference and Zelensky’s early exit from the White House. Zelensky will head to London tonight.
One of the gripes Vance voiced was that Zelensky had not “thanked” the United States for the billions of dollars in aid the it has provided Ukraine during the war.
“You have to be thankful. You don’t have the cards,” Trump said, adding later, “You gotta be more thankful.”
“Have you said thank you once this entire meeting?” Vance asked.
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Zelensky has many times thanked the U.S. for its support during the three-year war. After the meeting, Zelensky expressed hisgratitude to the dozens of world leaders who came out in support of him.
Trump and Zelensky’s relationship has soured over the last five months, ever since the pair exchanged pointed comments over Trump’s ability to broker a deal to end the war on the campaign trail in September 2024. More recently, Trump has referred to Zelensky as a dictator after Ukraine postponed its elections due to the war, and he blamed Ukraine for starting the war instead of Russia who launched its invasion in 2022.
