adam zivo: trump expects zelenskyy to play nice with a murderous dictator
their meeting to sign a minerals agreement went south after trump insists there is moral equivalency between ukraine and russia
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president donald trump, right, meets with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy in the oval office at the white house, friday, feb. 28, 2025, in washington. (ap photo/ mystyslav chernov)
ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy’s visit to the white house imploded friday after u.s. president donald trump and vice president jd vance berated and gaslit the wartime leader. their behaviour struck yet another blow to the dying ukrainian-american alliance, and demonstrated, yet again, how the trump administration cannot be trusted as a reliable security partner.
zelenskyy arrived at the white house to sign an economic agreement which would have allowed washington and kyiv to jointly develop, and mutually profit from, ukraine’s mineral resources. trump had earlier suggested that such a deal was necessary for ongoing military support, and, though the original draft he provided to kyiv was widely denounced as predatory, a new, more equal contract had been developed.
the two presidents, along with vance, held a 45-minute meeting in the oval office in front of an audience of journalists. at first, the men engaged each other amicably, even if their political differences occasionally bubbled to the surface.
trump commended ukraine’s fighters as “incredibly brave” and said: “i give tremendous credit to your soldiers, and your generals and yourself.” zelenskyy reciprocally praised trump and, when pushed by a journalist about recent tensions with the white house, firmly described the united states as an ally.
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economic cooperation dominated the first part of discussion, although zelenskyy, in an apparent bid to demonstrate his country’s military value, also pitched sharing ukraine’s drone technology. the remark was brief, but significant, given that drones are currently considered the future of warfare, and ukraine, through practical experience, has emerged as a global leader in this domain.
while both presidents repeatedly expressed their desire for peace, their divergent understandings of the war became increasingly apparent as the meeting wore on.
zelenskyy emphasized the suffering inflicted upon his people, and shared printed photos of ukrainian prisoners of war who had been beaten and starved by their russian captors. he said that russia, as the aggressor country, owed reparations for the destruction it had wrought, and that the 20,000 ukrainian children who had been kidnapped by russian forces at the beginning of the war needed to be repatriated.
the ukrainian president expressed his support for a lasting peace, but noted that ukraine needs security assurances given that russia has broken multiple ceasefires since first invading the country’s donbas region in 2014. “he hates us. he thinks that we’re not a nation,” said zelenskyy, accurately describing the views that russian president vladimir putin and his cronies have repeatedly expressed in their speeches and essays.
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in contrast, trump treated ukraine and russia as if they were morally equivalent — a fact which evidently annoyed zelenskyy, who generally kept his composure but occasionally struggled not to interject. when trump lamented the suffering experienced by the parents of both ukrainian and russian soldiers, as if there were no distinction between invader and defender, zelenskyy briefly remarked: “they came to our territory.”
trump repeatedly exaggerated how much aid the united states has provided to ukraine, claiming that $350 billion has been given to kyiv when, in reality, less than half of that amount has been disbursed. responding to journalists, he also repeatedly refused to commit to providing ukraine with any security guarantees.
things went south after a journalist asked trump whether he aligned more so with ukraine or russia. the american president claimed that he didn’t align with either side, as he believed neutrality was necessary for negotiations, and then segued into vilifying zelensky: “you see the hatred he’s got for putin. it’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. he’s got tremendous hatred.”
apparently, world leaders are supposed to show stoic detachment after watching the mass murder of their citizens, the rape of their women and the destruction of their cities.
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vance interjected and said that, although former u.s. president joe biden had talked tough, putin had invaded ukraine anyways, meaning that “the path to peace, and the path to prosperity, is maybe engaging with diplomacy.”
at this point, zelensky responded, reasonably and calmly, that ukraine had signed multiple ceasefires with russia, only for putin to consistently break them, and that almost a decade of diplomacy had not prevented putin from killing ukrainians or launching a full-scale invasion.
“what kind of diplomacy, jd, are you speaking about? what do you mean?” he asked.
vance’s mood soured. he began to condescendingly hector the ukrainian president, arguing that it was “disrespectful” to “come into the oval office and try to litigate this in front of the american people” and that ukraine was running out of men to fight with. zelenskyy disagreed on the last point, and noted that vance had never visited ukraine, to which vance responded by raising his voice and calling such visits “propaganda tours.”
as the event continued to deteriorate, zelenskyy said that, as of now, the united states is protected by large oceans, but americans might feel upset in the future if security circumstances change. “don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” replied trump, seemingly misunderstanding the comment, adding: “you’re gambling with world war iii, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.”
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increasingly aggressive, vance continued to belittle zelenskyy. “have you said thank you once, this entire meeting?… offer some words of appreciation to the united states of america and the president who’s trying to save your country,” he said, as if the united states had not, just days beforehand, voted against a un resolution condemning russia’s attack alongside a handful of rogue states, like belarus and north korea.
trump and vance continued to mock and attack zelenskyy, inflamed to the point of almost shouting, because the ukrainian president had not shown sufficient obsequiousness in his quest to protect his people from slaughter. eventually, zelenskyy asked, “what if russia breaks the ceasefire?” to which trump replied: “what if anything?! what if a bomb drops on your head right now, okay?!”
the meeting terminated, ugly and acrimonious, with zelenskyy’s delegation leaving at trump’s request shortly after, without having signed the economic partnership agreement.
across the internet, the maga movement is now exploding in applause, jubilant with the ukrainian president’s humiliation, inadvertently signalling to the world what trump’s new america expects from its allies: dog-like obedience; servility, not partnership; and mafioso patronage, not allyship. european leaders, in contrast, are giving their own chorus of support for ukraine — how can they not, now that they have seen the treatment that they might one day be subjected to?
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