It was meant to be a moment of triumph for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, a chance after weeks of maneuvering for an Oval Office meeting to demonstrate American backing in Europe’s bloodiest war in generations.
Instead, the meeting unraveled into insults. Mr. Zelensky, who had stayed in his country to fight against a Russian onslaught and who rallied much of the world to support Ukraine, was left shaking his head as President Trump said he trusted Russia to uphold a cease-fire.
He was berated by Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance as “disrespectful” for arguing that Russia posed a threat beyond Ukraine. At times, a corner of Mr. Zelensky’s lip curled as the American leaders rebuked him and downplayed the prospects of aid to his army, which is locked in vicious trench warfare with Russia.
Mr. Trump, who raised his voice at times, scolded Mr. Zelensky, saying, “you don’t have the cards.”
Mr. Zelensky responded, “I’m not playing cards.”
The upbraiding in the Oval Office came at a critical juncture in the war, with Ukraine striving to keep Russia at bay in battles of attrition in the country’s east and the Trump administration opening cease-fire talks directly with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Mr. Zelensky at no point backed away from what he has called Ukraine’s critical national interests, laying these out as a seat at the table in cease-fire talks; air defenses to protect Ukrainian cities and power plants; and U.S. military backup for a proposed, European-led peacekeeping force.
But it was unclear where Mr. Zelensky’s curdled relationship with Mr. Trump leaves Ukraine, which had relied heavily on American support over the last three years, and which had tried for weeks to broker a mineral rights deal that would satisfy the Trump administration.
What was clear, from the start of the diplomatic visit to its abrupt finish, were the signs of antipathy between Mr. Zelensky and the Trump administration.
Mr. Zelensky, who says he does not wear a suit to show solidarity with his soldiers, wore the simple, military-style clothing he usually wears at official events. When he arrived at the White House, Mr. Trump told reporters, “he’s all dressed up today!”
Later, in the Oval Office, a reporter for the right-wing Real America’s Voice network asked Mr. Zelensky about it, saying, “Do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office.”
Mr. Zelensky, a former comedic actor, jabbed back, saying he would wear a suit after the war ended. “Maybe something like yours?” he added. “Maybe something better, I don’t know.”
The confrontation with Mr. Trump cut the meeting short, canceled the signing of the highly touted deal for Ukrainian mineral rights, and left Ukraine seemingly on the precipice of losing the support of its most powerful backer.
In its diplomacy, Ukraine had hoped to engage with the United States in a cease-fire process that would progress on two tracks, with the Trump administration talking separately to Russia and Ukraine. The minerals deal — whose expected signing was Mr. Zelensky’s reason for visiting — was intended to open a path for the U.S.-Ukrainian branch of these talks, while providing Mr. Trump a rationale for any spending related to securing a cease-fire.
Before leaving Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky had noted Ukraine’s positions that he wanted the Trump administration to support. The Ukrainian army, he said, would not lay down its arms unless it had assurances a cease-fire would hold, and Ukraine would insist on maintaining its army in combat readiness at “maximum numbers” rather than accept caps on its forces.
Militarily, Ukraine does not appear to be at imminent risk of a major defeat, at least by the standards of past close calls, including the Russian army’s advance to the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, in the first days of the war. Russia’s initial attack put Mr. Zelensky’s presidential office within about 12 miles of enemy troops.
Ukraine has sufficient ammunition to last through April or May without additional American supplies, military analysts have said. Ukraine depends on the United States for Patriot air-defense missiles, which are the only system capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, such as the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles that have been fired at Kyiv.
Western assistance, including from the United States, with satellite surveillance and rocket artillery has given Ukraine an edge. But Ukraine’s reliance on American ammunition, howitzers and armored vehicles has faded, as Ukraine’s arms production has ramped up and exploding drones, also made domestically, have surpassed all other weapons in lethality.
In a flurry of diplomacy before the meeting in Washington, Mr. Zelensky had sought to shore up European support. He was scheduled to attend a summit of 18 European leaders on Sunday in London, where European pledges of aid were expected. It was unclear whether the heated exchange in the Oval Office would prompt European leaders to expand their backing for Ukraine.
The public scolding by the U.S. president was a remarkable pivot point for a leader who two years ago drew standing applause from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
But his style was more or less effective, even if it rankled some observers. Mr. Zelensky’s theatrical, emotional communication served Ukraine well in the dramatic, early months of the war, helping to lift spirits at home and bring in aid from allies. Later, it drew grumbles and led at one point to a British defense secretary saying he should show gratitude.
When asked in an interview Friday night with Fox News if he owed the president an apology, Mr. Zelensky said, “I’m not sure that we did something bad,” but he did characterize the confrontation as “not good for both sides.”
Mr. Zelensky arrived in Washington after a long and rocky negotiation to grant half the Ukrainian government’s future revenue from natural resources to a partly U.S.-controlled fund.
Mr. Zelensky had pushed back on the deal’s terms, prompting Mr. Trump to say falsely that Ukraine had started the war. Mr. Zelensky shot back that Mr. Trump lived in a bubble of “disinformation.”
Mr. Zelensky’s showmanship in pushing for a better deal prompted some head-scratching in Ukraine, where some asked why he would risk antagonizing a mercurial leader like Mr. Trump. Mr. Zelensky went into the meeting on Friday carrying photographs of war victims, clearly ready to argue Ukraine’s points again.
Instead, Friday’s encounter will be sure to unnerve millions of already exhausted Ukrainians at risk of shifting front lines and missile attacks.
Mr. Zelensky has long tried to walk a fine line with Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly praised Mr. Putin and who, during his first term, pushed Ukraine to help tarnish his political rival, leading to his first impeachment. For months, Mr. Zelensky has tried to avoid angering the leader of a vital ally but standing firm when he felt he had no choice, such as on Mr. Trump’s claim about the war’s start.
The approach had won both praise and criticism from politicians inside Ukraine — and brought a bump in popularity for Mr. Zelensky, who was seen as standing up to bullying, insults and falsehoods about a conflict that is raw, personal and immediate for Ukrainians.
But Mr. Zelensky’s approach clearly didn’t work on Friday.
At the meeting, he showed Mr. Trump photographs of Ukrainian prisoners of war who, he said, had been abused in Russia, making a point that the war is about more than the potential profit of natural resources.
The photographs were not visible to members of the press. But Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned from Russian prisons as haunting, rail-thin figures covered in bruises. It was a sharp departure from what Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain presented to Mr. Trump a day earlier: an elegant letter of invitation from King Charles to attend a royal banquet.
During the mineral agreement talks in Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, had pressed for a White House signing of the agreement, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
Mr. Zelensky had seen the decision to hold the meeting, and its timing, as a diplomatic success — demonstrating that Mr. Trump would meet with him first, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia second. The Trump administration’s envoy to Ukraine for cease-fire talks, Keith Kellogg, had advised against a White House meeting, but the Ukrainian negotiators insisted, the person said.
After Friday’s diplomatic debacle, the mineral deal and cease-fire talks alike appear to be stymied.
During the exchange in the White House, the two leaders debated a key area of dispute: whether a cease-fire should come before a deal on security guarantees. Mr. Trump said enforcement for a cease-fire is just “2 percent” of the task of ending the war. Mr. Zelensky has insisted that Mr. Putin cannot be trusted and that guarantees are needed, calling them a cornerstone for the future peace of Ukraine.
“We will never agree without a security guarantee,” he said.
Eve Sampson contributed reporting.
