Washington (CNN) — A remarkable shouting match broke out in the Oval Office on Friday between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, an extraordinarily fractious display that only underscored the deeply uncertain future of American assistance to Kyiv.
Never before has an American president berated his visitor like Trump did to Zelensky, leading to an almost real-time breakdown in relations between Washington and Kyiv. Trump at one point threatened to give up on Ukraine entirely.
Castigating Zelensky for not demonstrating enough gratitude for American support, Trump and his Vice President JD Vance raised their voices, accusing the besieged leader of standing in the way of a peace agreement with Russia.
“You’re right now, not really in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position,” Trump said. “You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”
“I’m not playing cards,” Zelensky said.
Raising his voice, after more back-and-forth, Trump said, “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”
At one moment, Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” toward his American hosts.
“You’re not acting all that thankful,” Trump added.
“Have you said ‘thank you’ once?” Vance asked Zelensky.
Afterward, Trump huddled with his key advisers inside the Oval Office to assess the situation, including Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
That was when Trump ultimately decided that Zelensky was “not in a place to negotiate.” He directed Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz to deliver the message: it was time for Zelensky to leave.
The Ukrainians were holding nearby in a separate room, which is standard when a foreign leader visits the White House. Typically, they go to other rooms, then reconvene for lunch.
But the Ukrainians wouldn’t be dining at the White House Friday. As the prepared food sat nearby on carts in a hallway outside the press secretary’s office, the Ukrainians were instructed to leave.
The White House official said the Ukrainians protested and wanted to continue the talks. But they were told no.
Zelensky left shortly thereafter. He has canceled his planned afternoon speech at the Hudson Institute, an official with the think tank announced to attendees.
A scheduled joint press conference was scrapped and Zelensky departed the White House in his black SUV without signing a planned agreement on providing US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. Trump posted online that his counterpart was not welcome back until he was “ready for peace.”
The Trump administration moved quickly on Friday to try to turn the diplomatic uproar into a sign of strength, dispatching allies like South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham to the cameras outside the West Wing to call on Zelensky to apologize. The White House issued a statement saying: “President Trump and VP Vance are standing up for Americans.”
Now, Zelensky will leave Washington with the fate of his country, and his own future as its leader, in doubt.
Ahead of his arrival, Trump had already voiced open hostility toward Zelensky, whom he termed a dictator. Yet he seemed to moderate his tone a day earlier, declining to repeat the criticism.
But the tense 10-minute exchange in the Oval Office went well beyond any of the usual diplomatic rifts, allowing the gulf between the men to play out publicly in front of television cameras. It was about as angry as Trump has ever allowed himself to be seen in public.
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” the US president said, adding later: “If we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it will be pretty.”
Vance, who has often sat silently in Oval Office meetings during the opening weeks of his vice presidency, sparked the tension with the visiting Ukrainian leader. Before joining Trump on the ticket last year, the freshman Ohio senator was among the loudest GOP critics of assistance to Ukraine – skepticism that he has carried into the White House.
The fiery exchanges on Friday served as a stark example of the dramatic whiplash in American foreign policy since Trump and Vance assumed office last month. The tensions escalated dramatically during a session that began with a series of pleasantries as Trump waxed aloud about his legacy.
“I hope I’m going to be remembered as a peacemaker,” Trump said as he looked ahead to the prospect of finalizing a broader peace deal with Russia and Ukraine.
But the acrimony that exploded into full view raised questions about the prospects of reaching a peaceful solution, raising fresh alarm across Europe, where leaders have worked for weeks to warn Trump of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s past actions and potential future intentions with Ukraine.
Again and again, Trump has sided with Putin. But with voices raised in the Oval Office, Trump unleashed years of pent-up frustration toward Russia and Ukraine, which led to his first impeachment.
“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said. “He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia.”
After the heated meeting, Trump said in a Truth Social post that Zelensky could come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace.”
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure,” he said.
“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. 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.”
For the sake of diplomacy, it was a catastrophic end to a week that began on a hopeful note at the White House, where French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited in hopes of paving the way to a security agreement with Ukraine.
Trump’s meetings with the pair of European leaders were awash in pleasantries to prepare him for his one-on-one session with Zelensky, which ended as no one could have imagined.
“I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy,” Trump said to the Ukrainian leader. “I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States.”
Speaking with reporters after a TV hit at the White House, Graham said Zelensky “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”
“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again. I think most Americans saw a guy that they would not want to go into business with. The way he handled the meeting, the way he confronted the president was just over the top,” Graham said.
Graham said he had spoken to Zelensky Friday morning.
“Don’t take the bait,” Graham said. “President Trump was in a very good mood last night.”
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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