How Trump sent Zelensky home with no deal and no meal

The main event of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House on February 28 was supposed to be the signing of a minerals deal, but it quickly devolved into a heated argument with President Trump and Vice President Vance.

It all began as Zelensky pulled up to the White House, with Trump immediately ribbing the leader about his unprofessional choice of attire:

Trump was not pleased by Zelensky’s disregard for diplomatic customs and courtesy. Trump’s advisers told Zelensky’s team on multiple occasions that it would be more respectful for Zelensky to ditch his military-style attire when visiting the White House.

This seemingly trivial little speed bump likely has more significance than meets the eye. Despite appearing on character for Trump, his setting the tone of the meeting with such an obvious stinger implies that the now-famous ambush carried out moments later by him and Vance was planned in advance.

This was unlike anything you’ll ever see between world ‘leaders’. Trump and Vance made a tag team on Zelensky, who was relegated to the stature of a small choirboy.

One of the highlights which may not have been captured in the video above included the following, where Zelensky was mocked by a journalist for his irreverent dress:

“Do you even own a suit?” Imagine such a demeaning question being asked of any other world leader.

This exchange highlights precisely the main takeaway—which is that the artificially constructed image of Zelensky is no longer useful, and has been tossed away like a used rag. All the false bravado—it all served a purpose for the past years, with Zelensky’s image being built up like some kind of John Rambo-Churchill. The warzone attire would have never been questioned before, because it represented the theatre of it all, the carefully stage-managed production. Now that the play has run its course, failing to turn a profit, the ‘act’ has grown old and we’re immediately allowed a view under the costume.

After the meeting, the delegation from Kyiv waited in another room for about an hour, still hoping to sign the minerals deal that prompted Zelensky’s trip, and to salvage the visit. Trump and Zelensky were still scheduled to have lunch and hold a joint press conference.

Then Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz “went out of the Oval Office, walked to where Zelensky was sitting, and told him to leave” a senior White House official tells Axios.

The visit was over without a minerals deal, and without any assurances of ongoing U.S. support. Trump followed up with a Truth Social post saying Zelensky “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

The White House official insisted the explosion in the meeting was not a premeditated ambush. “Our plan was to sign the minerals deal and get into this economic partnership and move towards peace.”

U.S. allies and EU leaders swiftly rallied around Zelensky after the meeting, and Democrats denounced Trump for bullying Ukraine’s wartime leader.

But Trump’s aides put the blame squarely on Zelensky. “He could have just acknowledged the vice president’s remarks and moved on, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it,” the White House official said.

Whether the fracas was Zelensky’s fault or not, the fallout for Ukraine could be severe. Zelensky has acknowledged just how dependent his military is on further U.S. aid, which remains highly uncertain.

And Trump was not entirely wrong when he repeatedly told Zelensky he didn’t “have the cards” to shape the outcome of the war without U.S. support.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who met Zelensky before his meeting with Trump, told reporters he advised the Ukrainian president, “Don’t take the bait” and “talk about the positive.” Now, “I don’t know if we could ever do business with Zelensky again,” Graham said.

“For several days, the Ukrainians jerked us around with this minerals deal, and today was the inflection point,” a senior U.S. official said after the meeting. “The blank check era for Zelensky in Washington is over and he didn’t realize that.”

For their part, the Ukrainians were furious that Trump tried to force what was initially a deeply lopsided deal on them at a time when the U.S. was already leaving them out of talks with Russia about the future of Ukraine. And as the meeting got underway, Zelensky was clearly frustrated at being lectured about the trouble his own country was in.

After leaving the White House, Zelensky cancelled his next two public events and published a short statement on X thanking the American people, Congress and Trump for their support: “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the announcement came that the US is cutting energy grid restoration for Ukraine:

Trump is now considering cutting all Ukrainian aid:

The Trump administration is considering halting all current military aid to Ukraine following the events in the Oval Office, a senior administration official told The Washington Post.

The official said the decision, if made, would apply to radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine, while rejecting the suggestion that Trump and Vance’s confrontation with Zelensky was deliberate.

Later, President Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House about his interactions with President Zelensky, claiming that he felt that, if the deal would have been signed, Zelensky planned to use the “U.S. cards” to continue the war, instead of stopping it (min. 2:20-2:52):

 

yogaesoteric
March 1, 2025