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Transcript of Donald Trump, JD Vance, Zelensky clash in White House: ‘Great television’
The fiery exchange, which took place at the Oval Office, unfolded after Zelensky challenged Vance regarding the role of US diplomacy with President Putin.
In one of the most heated political confrontations that reverberated across international media, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of not being thankful for the country's help in the European nation's fight against Russia.
The fiery exchange, which took place at the Oval Office, unfolded after Zelensky challenged Vance regarding the role of US diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The clash, which was broadcast live to an international audience, quickly escalated into a war of words, with Trump and Vance questioning Zelensky's approach towards Washington and reminding him that Ukraine was not in a good position regarding the war.
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“You don't have the cards,” Donald Trump told Zelensky.
The unexpected confrontation led to the abrupt cancellation of Zelensky's remaining meetings as well as a joint press conference with President Trump at the White House.
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The Trump-Zelensky fallout has raised questions about the future of the US-Ukraine relationship and whether or not Washington will continue to support the war-torn country.
After the infamous Oval Office showdown, as both sides remain in the spotlight here is a word-to-word transcript of the exchange that took place when Zelensky challenged Vance.
Here's the transcript of the heated exchange:
Zelensky challenges Vance on Russia and diplomacy.
Vance: “For four years, in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is, maybe, engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States' words mattered more than the president of the United States' actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That's what President Trump is doing.”
Zelensky: “Can I ask you?”
Vance: “Sure. Yeah.”
Zelensky: “OK. So he (Putin) occupied it, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years — I'm not speaking about just Biden, but those times were (Barack) Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump. And God bless, now, President Trump will stop him. But in 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the --"
Trump: “2015?”
Zelensky: “2014.”
Trump: “Oh, 2014? I was not here.”
Vance: “That's exactly right.”
Zelensky: “Yes, but from 2014 until 2022, the situation is the same, that people have been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him, me, like, you, president, in 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, (French President Emmanuel) Macron and (former German Chancellor Angela) Merkel. We signed a ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he would never go. But after that, he broke the ceasefire, he killed our people, and he didn't exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. But he didn't do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?”
Vance: “I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelensky: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?”
Vance: “I have been to –”
Zelensky: “Come once.”
Vance: “I've watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you've had problems, bringing people into your military?”
Zelensky: “We have problems –”
Vance: “And do you think that is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Zelensky: “A lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning.”
Vance: “Sure.”
Trump erupts when Zelenskyy suggests the US might feel it in the future
Zelensky: “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have a nice ocean and don't feel it now. But you will feel it in the future. God bless –”
Trump: “You don't know that. You don't know that. Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel.”
Zelensky: “I'm not telling you. I am answering these questions.”
Trump: “Because you're in no position to dictate that."
Vance: “That's exactly what you're doing.”
Trump: "You are in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. We're going to feel very good.”
Zelensky: “You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “We are going to feel very good and very strong.”
Zelensky: “I am telling you. You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “You're, right now, not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position –”
Zelensky: “From the very beginning of the war —”
Trump: “You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards."
Zelensky: “I'm not playing cards. I'm very serious, Mr. President. I'm very serious.”
Trump: “You're playing cards. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III.”
Zelensky: “What are you speaking about?”
Trump: “You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Vance: “Have you said thank you once?”
Zelensky: “A lot of times. Even today.”
Vance: “No, in this entire meeting. You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.”
Zelensky: “No.”
Vance: “Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country.”
Zelensky: “Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can –”
Trump: “He's not speaking loudly. He's not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.”
Zelensky: “Can I answer —”
Trump: “No, no. You've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.”
Zelensky: “I know. I know.”
Trump: “You're not winning. You're not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.”
Zelensky: “Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, we've been alone. And we are thankful. I said thanks."
Trump demands Zelenskyy accept a ceasefire.
Trump: “If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
Zelensky: “In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days.”
Trump: “Maybe less. It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.
Vance: “Just say thank you.”
Zelensky: “I said a lot of times, thank you, to American people.”
Vance: "Accept that there are disagreements, and let's go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you're wrong. We know that you're wrong."
Trump: “But you see, I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on. I think it's very important. That's why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful."
Zelensky: “I'm thankful.”
Trump: "You don't have the cards. You're buried there. People are dying. You're running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you tell us, I don't want a ceasefire. I don't want a ceasefire, I want to go, and I want this.' Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed."
Zelensky: “Of course we want to stop the war. But I said to you, with guarantees.”
Trump: “Are you saying you don't want a ceasefire? I want a ceasefire. Because you'll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.”
Zelensky: “Ask our people about a ceasefire, what they think.”
Trump: “That wasn't with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.”
Zelensky: “This is your president. It was your president.”
Trump: “Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you Javelins. I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. The statement is Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave Javelins. You've got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you don't have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don't have any cards."
Trump says Putin respects him due to the investigations of his first term
Vance, restating a reporter's question: “She is asking what if Russia breaks the ceasefire.”
Trump: “What, if anything? What if the bomb drops on your head right now? OK, what if they broke it? I don't know, they broke it with Biden because Biden, didn't respect him. They didn't respect Obama. They respect me. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phoney witch hunt ... All I can say is this. He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he did. I don't know what happened, but he didn't break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don't know if you can make a deal.”
“The problem is I've empowered you (turning toward Zelenskyy) to be a tough guy, and I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But 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, but you'll fight it out. But you don't have the cards. But 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.
"All right, I think we've seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television. I will say that.”
(With PTI inputs)
