EXCLUSIVE: Senior White House Officials Detail How Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Meeting Went Off The Rails

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rolled into the White House on Friday hoping to strike a deal with the United States. The Trump administration had negotiated an agreement to jointly develop mineral extraction projects in Ukraine. In the corridors of the West Wing, staff stood patiently with lunch ready for Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump for the pair to enjoy after officially approving the deal.

“This was set up to be like every other state visit. This was an Oval Office spray, [there’d be] the cordial handshake and take a couple questions and then go on to lunch,” a senior White House aide told the Daily Caller.

But just as quickly as he came in, Zelenskyy was ushered out after he got into a heated spat with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Administration officials told the Daily Caller that they fully expected to reach a deal with Zelenskyy and to sign the long-awaited minerals deal during his visit on Friday, but the Ukrainian president’s inability to know how to work with Trump and Vance got in the way.

Forty minutes after sitting in the Oval, exchanging pleasantries, and taking questions from the press, an argument ensued. The Ukrainian president openly criticized the U.S. for not stopping Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vance shot back. Trump started to raise his voice. Zelenskyy repeatedly interrupted his hosts.

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“During 2015, nobody stopped [Putin]. He just occupied them too. He killed people,” Zelenskyy said. “[Throughout] 2014 and 2022, the situation [was] the same. People have been dying on the contact line, nobody stopped him … He broke this ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. But he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, J.D., are you speaking about? What do you mean?” (RELATED: ‘Let’s Do A Deal’: Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy Says Yes To Trump’s Demands)

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance said. “Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

Vance chastised the Ukrainian president for not extending gratitude toward the U.S. for its security assistance. Trump pointedly told Zelenskyy, “You’re gambling with World War III.”

After eight minutes of arguing, Trump decided that he had enough, signaling for the press to be moved out of the room. Zelenskyy’s motorcade pulled up to the White House and an administration official confirmed to the Caller that Trump had kicked the Ukrainian president out. “Nothing will be signed,” the White House official said of the impending minerals deal.

“He didn’t read the room,” a senior White House aide said of Zelenskyy’s posture during the meeting. “The room was actually very much in favor of signing a deal.” 

Trump took to TruthSocial to tell Americans that the peace talks were off. 

“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,” Trump said in his post.

There was no indication when the day started that the bilateral would devolve into a chaotic argument between the two countries’ top leaders. The White House believed the pair would give opening remarks, take questions, and continue negotiations behind closed doors, an administration official told the Caller. After the breakdown, some social media users and media members claimed that Trump and Vance had “ambushed” Zelenskyy. But the official stressed that what happened today was not according to the White House’s plan. 

Yet it seemed that from the moment the Ukrainian president entered the Oval Office, things weren’t going to go smoothly.

An administration official noted to the Caller that Zelenskyy was carrying himself in a “disrespectful manner” and had rolled his eyes and interrupted the president and his vice president multiple times.

“There was a braggadocious hubris about him,” a senior White House aide told the Caller.

Sources close to Zelenskyy told Fox News that the Ukrainian president was apparently presented with the minerals agreement by the Trump administration ahead of the Oval Office meeting, but, to his displeasure, there were no guaranteed security initiatives to help Ukraine in the event of another Russian invasion. Zelenskyy later confirmed that he would not enter peace agreements with Russia without security guarantees. 

A White House official seemed to echo the report to Semafor, adding that Zelenskyy was “talking about security guarantees” and “getting ahead of what today was for, which was the economic deal.”

After the meeting broke down, Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians went into a separate room, which is standard procedure. President Trump, however, huddled with his advisors, a White House official told the Caller. Trump decided that Zelenskyy didn’t seem ready to negotiate for peace and that additional conversations wouldn’t be productive, the official explained.

After Trump posted his statement on TruthSocial, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz delivered the Ukrainians the news that they would be leaving and that negotiations had concluded for the day.

A source familiar with the situation argued to the Caller that Zelenskyy lacks the self-awareness and understanding of how to communicate with Trump and Vance, which led to his misplay today. 

“Not knowing how to deal with Trump, he took a very unconventional approach, that somehow trying to put Trump in his
place was the right posture,” a senior White House aide told the Caller.