Ahead of Fridayfs tense exchange, both leaders were expected to make headway on or even finalize an agreement that could see Ukraine contribute revenues from its state-owned mineral, gas, and oil resources into a co-managed investment fund in exchange for continued U.S. support.
But discussion rapidly devolved in front of the news media in the Oval Office as both Trump and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance—who was also at the meeting—loudly and repeatedly berated Zelensky, with Vance accusing the Ukrainian leader of being gdisrespectfulh toward the United States. The two U.S. leaders often spoke over Zelensky when he tried to respond.
Here is the transcript of Trump, Zelensky, and Vancefs contentious exchange. It has been edited for length and clarity.
J.D. Vance: For four years, in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up in press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United Statesf words mattered more than the president of the United Statesf actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. Thatfs what President Trump is doing.
Volodymyr Zelensky: He [Putin] occupied various parts of Ukraine in 2014. During that time, it was President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, and now itfs President Trump and he will stop him [Putin]. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. From 2014 till 2022, the situation was the same—people have been dying on the contact line and nobody stopped him. We had a lot of conversations with him, including a bilateral conversation. As a new president in 2019, I signed with him a cease-fire deal alongside Macron and Merkel. All of them told me that he will never go. We also signed a gas contract with him. But after all of that, he broke the cease-fire. He killed our people, and he didnft exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didnft do it. What kind of diplomacy, J.D., are you speaking about? What do you mean?
Vance: Ifm talking about the kind of diplomacy thatfs going to end the destruction of your country. [Zelensky begins to respond] Mr. President, with respect, I think itfs disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems—you should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.
Zelensky: Have you ever been to Ukraine to see what problems we have? Come once.
Vance: Ifve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that youfve had problems bringing people in your military, and do you think that itfs respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?
Zelensky: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have a nice ocean and donft feel [the problems] now. But you will feel it in the future.
Donald Trump: You donft know that.
Zelensky: God bless, you will not have war.
Trump: Donft tell us what wefre going to feel. Wefre trying to solve a problem.
Zelensky: Ifm not. Ifm answering the question thatc
Trump: Youfre in no position to dictate what wefre going to feel. Wefre going to feel very good.
Zelensky: You are going to feel influencedc
Trump: Wefre going to feel very good and very strong. Youfre, right now, not in a very good position. Youfve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. You donft have the cards right now with us. [Zelensky continues speaking] Youfre gambling with the lives of millions of people. Youfre gambling with World War Three. Youfre gambling with World War Three, and what youfre doing is very disrespectful to this country thatfs backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.
Vance: Have you said thank you once?
Zelensky: A lot of times.
Vance: No, in this entire meeting, have you said thank you? You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president whofs trying to save your country.
Zelensky: Please, you think that if you will speak very loudlyc
Trump: He is not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.
Zelensky: I know. Can I askc
Trump: No, no, youfve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.
Zelensky: I know.
Trump: Youfre not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us.
Zelensky: Mr. President, we are staying strong in our country. From the very beginning of the war wefve been alone and we are thankful. I said thank you in this cabinet.
Trump: We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. Your men are brave but they have used our military equipment. If you didnft have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.
Zelensky: In three days, yes. I heard it from Putin.
Trump: Itfs going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.
Vance: Just say thank you.
Zelensky: I said thank you—I say thank you to the American people.
Vance: Accept that there are disagreements, and letfs go litigate those disagreements, rather than trying to fight it out in the American media, when youfre wrong. We know that youfre wrong.
Trump: You see, I think itfs good for the American people to see whatfs going on. I think itfs very important. Thatfs why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful. You donft have the cards. Youfre buried there. You people are dying. Youfre running low on soldiers. Listen, youfre running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, gI donft want to cease fire. I donft want to cease fire.h If you could get a cease-fire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.
Zelensky: Yes, of course I want to stop the war. But, as Ifve said to you, with guarantees. Ask our people about the cease-fire, what do they think.
Trump: That wasnft me. That was with a guy named Biden, who was not a smart person. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets. I gave you javelins(gs^ÎíÔ~TC). I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets and Trump gave javelins. You got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you donft have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you donft have any cards. Itfll be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change.