U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 28, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
President Donald Trump found the tone and body language of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy objectionable during an Oval Office meeting that exploded into a loud argument on Friday, the White House told CNBC.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there was not a specific thing that Zelenskyy said in the Oval Office to Trump or Vice President JD Vance that the president objected to, but the tone and manner in which he said it.
Leavitt said Friday that Zelenskyy — whose country was invaded three years ago by Russia at the direction of its president, Vladimir Putin — was folding his arms, rolling his eyes and sitting in a way that indicated a lack of respect.
Leavitt also pointed out that Zelenskyy called Vance “JD,” instead of “Mr. Vice President,” during the fiery exchange, which was televised in front of reporters in the Oval Office.
The clash occurred when Zelenskyy challenged the idea that Russia could be trusted to honor the terms of any peace deal that would be reached through diplomacy. Vance then accused the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful” by “trying to litigate” the terms of such a deal in the Oval Office.
Press secretary Leavitt said that White House officials were also annoyed that Zelenskyy did not wear a suit during his visit Friday, which abruptly ended with a scheduled news conference and meal both canceled after the Oval Office blow-up.
When CNBC noted that the White House did not appear to have a problem with top Trump advisor Elon Musk recently appearing in the Oval Office next to the president wearing a t-shirt and a baseball cap, Leavitt said that was different because the billionaire Tesla CEO is not the leader of a “sovereign nation.”
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Trump earlier Friday had greeted Zelenskyy outside the White House by saying, “Oh look, you’re all dressed up.”
During the Oval Office visit, conservative television news host Brian Glenn — the boyfriend of right-wing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — asked Zelenskyy, “Why don’t you wear a suit?”
“You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit,” Glenn pressed. “Do you own a suit?”
Zelenskyy, who was dressed in a black sweater bearing the national symbol of Ukraine, shot back: “I will wear a suit after this war is over.”
“Maybe something like yours,” Zelenskyy told Glenn. “Maybe better.”
During the Oval Office meeting, Vice President Vance argued that Zelenskyy should “thank” Trump for the aid the U.S. has given Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.
Zelenskyy responded that he had expressed thanks “a lot of times. Even today.”
Trump, at one point, defended Russia’s Putin againsr Zelenskyy, saying, “ Putin went through a hell of a lot with me.”
“He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal?” Trump asked, referring to the wide-ranging investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was impeached in 2019 by the U.S. House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over a July 2019 phone call to Zelenskyy in which he pressured the Ukrainian president to open an investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden and his father, former President Joe Biden, who at the time had emerged as a key rival to Trump’s chances of winning re-election in 2020.
Trump also had conditioned the release of nearly $400 million in U.S. military and security aid to Ukraine on Zelenskky publicly announcing a probe into the Bidens and another probe into “a discredited theory promoted by Russia alleging that Ukraine — rather than Russia — interfered in the 2016 president election,” according to the articles of impeachment.
Trump was acquitted after a trial in the Senate.
