Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a furious row with US President and Vice President JD Vance in a tense row.
In difficult to watch scenes from inside the Oval Office, Mr Zelensky who has bravely led his country through three years of war was given a drssing down by Mr Trump and Vice Presdient JD Vance in front of the world’s media.
Mr Trump accused of “gambling with World War Three” in a series of testy exchanges, Mr Zelensky warned the US would “feel it in the future” if it did not continue to support .
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem,” Mr Trump hit back.
Speaking loudly, Mr Trump later told his Ukrainian counterpart: “You’re gambling with millions of people seeing you gambling with World War Three. You’re gambling with World War Three.”
US Vice President JD Vance questioned why Mr Zelensky had not said thank you for US aid during the meeting.
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Trump Zelensky (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky exchanged heated words in the White House (Image: Getty )
Mr Zelensky told Mr Trump that promises of peace from can’t be trusted, noting the Russian leader’s history of broken promises. Trump said Putin hasn’t broken agreements with him.
“You’ve got to be more thankful,” the US President told Mr Zelensky.
Mr Trump then chided the Ukrainian leader after Vice President JD Vance, one of the administration’s most skeptical voices on , said Zelensky was being disrespectful for debating Trump in the Oval Office in front of the American media.
“Have you said ‘thank you’ once?” Vance asked Zelensky.
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Mr Trump did go as far as to tell Mr Zelensky that Ukrainian soldiers had been unbelievably brave and he talked up an economic agreement between their two countries.
“It is a big commitment from the United States,” Mr Trump said. He added that the United States has little of the rare earth minerals that are abundant in , and says those resources will support uses in the US including artificial intelligence and military weapons.
Mr Zelensky talked up the prospect for liquid natural gas exports to Europe, but gently disagreed when Mr Trump repeated his claim that Europe “did much less” than the United States to support against .
Mr Zelensky called Putin a killer and a terrorist and told Mr Trump there should be “no compromises with a killer.” He brought along printed photos to show Mr Trump, but journalists in the room could not see them.