The Rumble in the Oval Office Jungle

Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy Engage in an Undiplomatic Dispute as Trump Aligns with Putin

The Oval Office meeting on February 28 was intended to be the prelude to signing a Trump shakedown deal where Ukraine promised to give the U.S. 50% of its revenue from mineral sales. Zelenskyy had sought a U.S. security guarantee to provide support for a European peacekeeping mission and to provide additional security support for Ukraine. Prior to the rumble Trump refused to agree to any security guarantee, and he also refused to commit U.S. troops to participate in any peacekeeping mission.

Last week Trump showed his cards by joining Russia, North Korea, Belarus and Israel in opposition to the Ukrainian U.N. Resolution commemorating the start of the third year of the war between Russia and Ukraine and calling for an end of the war. Just to show his alignment with Putin, Trump said that Zelenskyy was a dictator even though he was democratically elected with 73% of the vote. Trump claimed Zelenskyy had an approval rating among Ukrainians of only 4% when in fact his recent approval rating was 63%, as reported by Reuters. Trump set the stage for hostility to Zelenskyy.

This was not the first shakedown of Zelenskyy by our own Don Corleone as Trump in 2019 first showed his cards by refusing to release Congressionally appropriated funds for defense of Ukraine when at that time Russia was engaged in active fighting with Ukrainian separatists seeking control of eastern Ukraine. Trump conditioned release of those funds on Zelenskyy agreeing to announce a phony investigation of Joe Biden, which Zelenskyy refused to do, leading to Trump’s first impeachment by the House.

With the history of Trump’s lies and hostility to Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian desire to have an Oval Office meeting was a mistake.

The minerals deal that was supposed to be signed at the end of the meeting was another Trump shakedown where in exchange for nothing Ukraine was to give the U.S. 50% of the revenue from sale of various minerals. This was billed as repayment of previous U.S. aid to Ukraine, but that aid was given without any contemplation that it would be repaid in the future. And Europe has provided a greater dollar amount of aid to Ukraine than the U.S., so using Trump’s reasoning, Europe should get another portion of those mineral revenues. Of course Europe has not asked for any reimbursement, only Trump has made his demands.

During the Oval Office meeting both Vance and Trump attacked Zelenskyy for not showing appropriate thanks to the U.S. Of course Zelenskyy has often expressed his thanks to the U.S. The agreement that Trump demanded gave the U.S. 50% of Ukraine’s mineral sales, and that is a lot of thanks for prior military and economic assistance.

Trump and Vance were the hosts of the meeting and normally a host is to be respectful of guests. But Vance and Trump decided to show extreme disrespect to Zelenskyy who flew to Washington to sign the mineral deal. If someone is giving you 50% of their mineral sales you could at least be courteous to them and show normal hospitality. But that was not the Trump-Vance plan, rather they decided to sabotage the meeting and to berate Zelenskyy who initially responded to their attacks, a bad move with the thin skinned Trump who now labels any dissent as grounds for exclusion— just ask the Associated Press and Reuters what happens when you get on the wrong side of the U.S. president who aspires to join the ranks of Putin and Xi as the dictator triumvirate.

Zelenskyy was seeking security guarantees as part of the deal which Trump refused to give. So if this was intended to be diplomacy, it was not, and it was set up by Vance and Trump to deliberately get into a confrontation with Zelenskyy in front of the media and was intended to be an embarrassment. Unfortunately, Zelenskyy repeatedly took the bait and the event turned into a verbal brawl.

After Trump’s joining Russia opposing the U.N. resolution and Trump’s false claims that Zelenskyy was a dictator with low approval, the Oval Office event should never have happened. It was a set-up and intended to fail.

Europeans came to Zelenskyy’s defense and pondered if they could support Ukraine without the U.S. Urgent meetings are being held to contemplate the path forward with Europe leading in the absence of the U.S.

Putin had to be all smiles as his U.S. partner was isolating and abandoning Ukraine.

Trump did go off the rails and at one point he said he and Putin have been through a lot as they had to fight off the Russian meddling hoax. Then he blamed Hunter Biden and Joe Biden for his Russian “hoax” problem and as he got further off the rails, Trump said this was all concocted in Hunter Biden’s bedroom and it was disgusting. He then said that Hunter Biden’s laptop was made in Russia. Who knows what Trump was thinking. Stream of conscious unconsciousness.

At another point Trump said Zelenskyy campaigned for “the opposition” at a Pennsylvania ammunition plant. He was apparently referring to a visit Zelenskyy made to a Scranton ammunition plant in September, 2024 to thank the workers there who manufactured 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine. Governor Shapiro was present and Trump falsely claimed that it was the scene for Zelenskyy to campaign for Trump’s opposition. though it was nothing of that kind.

Former Ambassador Susan Rice said the meeting was a planned attack on Zelenskyy. Trump’s comment at the end that the event will make great television supports the idea that this was a planned attack. There is nothing that Trump likes more than television broadcasting his tough guy routine. Trump even said that he will be meaner and tougher than anyone.

By refusing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the minerals deal, Trump clearly aligned with Russia against Ukraine. For this reason, I am glad that the mineral shakedown deal was not signed. Ukraine needs those revenues to help rebuild Ukraine if the war can be brought to a halt.

Trump seems fixated on obtaining minerals from Ukraine, Greenland and even Canada. He thinks he can obtain those resources through a form of gunboat diplomacy. But in the process, together with his tariffs, Trump is undermining the Western Alliance. Trump’s go it alone strategy, without allies, only undermines our collective security.

Is U.S. national security increased by the rumble in the Oval Office? As Trump effectively abandons Ukraine and seeks to impose high tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the E.U., who will be able to trust the U.S. after Trump ignores the agreement he signed with Mexico and Canada in his first term? Trump’s tariff plan will be harmful to us and our allies, and no matter how many people say that, Trump ignores them all, as he knows best. Trump has not settled the Ukraine war or the Gaza war and now he wants to initiate a global trade war.