From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 28, 2025
Trump tells Zelensky to be ‘thankful’ in Oval Office clash, says he must either ‘make a deal’ with Russia ‘or we’re out’
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US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky openly argue in the White House as they clash on the need for compromising with what the Ukrainian president called Russia’s “killer” leader.
Trump berates Zelensky as they sit in the Oval Office, telling him to be more “thankful” and saying, “You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”
And he tells the Ukrainian president that he either “make a deal” with Russia “or we’re out.”
US Vice President JD Vance, sitting nearby, also attacks Zelensky, calling him “disrespectful.”
Zelensky appears to try to speak but is cut off.
The extraordinary outburst came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago.
“You can’t do any deals without compromises. So certainly he’s going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won’t be as big as some people think,” Trump says.
Trump lashes out at Zelensky, who he says is “not acting at all thankful” and not “nice.”
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump says. “You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country.”
‼️A heated back and forth between @ZelenskyyUa, @POTUS, and @VP now in the Oval. pic.twitter.com/j1YCy4Jm3K
— Misha Komadovsky (@komadovsky) February 28, 2025
The Times of Israel Community.