WHITE House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has broken her silence on the tense meeting between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Leavitt, 27, said Trump was “standing up for America” when the minerals deal descended into a shouting match.
On Friday, Zelensky walked into the Oval Office to chat with the president about getting more resources for his country’s war with Russia.
The Ukrainian president went off on a tangent about Vladimir Putin breaking a ceasefire deal before getting totally shut down by Vice President JD Vance.
“I think it’s disrespectful to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” said Vance.
The vice president then pointed to Ukraine’s manpower problem, as the country has relied on middle-aged citizens to keep up the years-long battle.
As tensions rose, Vance and Trump made it clear they wanted Zelensky to make a deal with Putin, putting an end to the bloody war.
“You’re gambling with millions of people seeing you gambling with World War Three,” shouted Trump.
“You’re gambling with World War Three.”
The trio had planned to give a press conference after the meeting, but it was abruptly canceled and Zelensky was booted from the White House.
At one point in the chaos, the White House learned that a journalist working for Russian state media group TASS snuck into the meeting.
Leavitt swiftly walked in, dragged him from the Oval Office, and kicked him to the curb, the White House confirmed.
When the dust settled, Leavitt shut down Trump’s critics and made it clear the president was in the right when he sparred with the world leader.
In a post on X, she said, “President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing up for the American people.”
The Associated Press and Reuters were barred from the meeting, and instead a reporter from conservative outlet Real America’s Voice, Brian Glenn, was let in.
Glenn, who is dating US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, quizzed Zelensky on whether he wore a suit.
After the disastrous meeting, Zelensky canceled all of his planned events in Washington DC for the day, according to Reuters.
FIGHT FOR PEACE
Trump vowed to prioritize ending major world wars, as he helped negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas before he even took office.
Now, he’s putting his foot down on aid to Ukraine after the US shelled out $65.9 billion in military assistance since Russia attacked the neighboring nation in February 2022.
“Your people are very brave, but you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out,” he warned Zelensky in the Oval Office.
“People are dying […] you’re running low on soldiers.
“You don’t have the cards. Once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
Following the meeting, Zelensky shared a bizarre post on X where he thanked America for its support and for the visit.
Meanwhile, Trump kept ripping into the Ukrainian leader’s behavior in a cutting statement.
“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” he said.
“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.”
REPLACEMENT CALLS
In an inteview with Fox News, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham ripped into Zelensky and described the meeting as an “utter disaster.”
The talks were so detrimental, Graham suggested Ukraine should start looking for another leader.
“What I want him to do, I guess, is just to say, ‘I screwed up big time for my country and for the US relationship and if I had to do it over again, I’d have done it differently and I’m sorry,’” said the senator.
“If he can’t say that, then Ukraine you need to either send us somebody new we can deal with or just accept the consequences.”
