Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump clashed on Friday, with Zelensky questioning Trump’s tilt toward Russia and Trump accusing him of being disrespectful as their differences erupted into a shouting match.
Zelensky left the White House without signing a critical minerals deal with the US that Trump had demanded and suggested was a condition for future support for Ukraine.
During the meeting, the two leaders talked over each other as Trump insisted Zelensky was losing the Ukraine war and said, “people are dying, you’re running low on soldiers”.
He threatened to withdraw US support in a stand-off in front of reporters ahead of a planned signing ceremony for the revenue-sharing minerals agreement.
“You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty,” Trump told him.
“You don’t have the cards. Once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
