On Feb. 28, 2025, Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in the Oval Office with Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance, President and Vice President of the United States, concerning the full-scale war that has been fought in Ukraine over the past three years. This meeting quickly devolved into chaos, with those holding the two highest governmental positions in the United States berating the leader of a war-torn country.
Before this disastrous meeting, what has become known as the Russo-Ukranian War began in 2014 when armed conflicts broke out in the eastern portion of Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea, a peninsula found in Eastern Europe. More recently however, the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia is the result of a full-scale invasion into Ukraine on the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin in late February of 2022, killing thousands of Ukranians and displacing millions more.
The meeting this February was created with the intention that both Zelenskyy and Trump would sign a deal between Ukraine and the United States. The deal would allow raw minerals from Ukraine to be traded in exchange for further assistance from the United States, which some have labeled as extortion on the part of the Trump administration.
To begin the conversation, President Trump chose to take a dig at the Biden administration’s supposed lack of action regarding the war in Ukraine. Trump then repeated his claim that if he had been in office, the decade long conflict between Ukraine and Russia never would have devolved into war in the first place, though tensions had been rising between the two nations regardless of his position within the presidency.
A noteworthy moment that is currently making its rounds on social media occurred when an American reporter commented on the outfit that Zelenskyy had chosen to wear that day to the Oval Office, arguing that his clothing was disrespectful. President Zelenskyy chose to respond by saying, “I will wear a costume after this war will finish, yes.”
The ill-fated meeting went relatively smoothly up until the final ten minutes, when a comment made by Vice President Vance, who has recently been under fire by the public and booed at a multitude of events, started the monumental blowout argument which ended with Zelenskyy being kicked out of the White House. Vance claimed that an end to the war in Ukraine would have to be done through diplomacy, defending President Trump’s current approach at peace. Zelenskyy fired back by saying that Russia had broken ceasefire agreements with Ukraine in the past, so why would this time be any different? The Ukranian President then asked which kind of diplomacy Vance was referring to, to which Vance responded with “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” and then proceeded to reprimand Zelenskyy, claiming that he needed to be more thankful for U.S. support.
Trump soon jumped on the bandwagon, claiming that Ukraine did not have the “cards” without the United States’ help, while simultaneously not allowing Zelenskyy to get a word in to defend himself. This can be viewed as an attempt made by Trump to strong arm Zelenskyy into backing down, which he was not willing to do. Vance continuously interjected himself into the conversation moving forward, still seemingly stuck on the lack of appreciation he believes the United States is experiencing from Zelenskyy.
Within minutes, reporters and the media were asked to leave the Oval Office, with Zelenskyy and the Ukranian delegates following suite and deliberating in a nearby room. They were soon dismissed as well, and their attempts at continuing the conversation were denied, leaving the raw minerals deal unsigned.
Regardless of your political affiliation, the way in which President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance handled themselves during this critical meeting is a disgrace to not just the American presidency, but to global affairs as well. Additionally, the way Trump, Vance and their constituents present at the meeting allowed a reporter to comment on Zelenskyy’s choice of dress does not bode well for the current administration, as they have been known to not shy away from admonishing reporters who they do not agree with, showing that the Trump administration approves of this distasteful, and honestly quite petty, conduct. Though the future of the alliance between Ukraine and the United States may be unclear, one thing is for certain, this is a meeting that will surely make it into the history books.
