White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt set the record straight when asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday.
During an interview on Fox News with host Howard Kurtz, Leavitt defended Trump when grilled about the explosive Oval Office confrontation with Zelensky, calling the Ukrainian president “antagonistic” and “rude.”
Kurtz immediately took a cheap shot at the White House by saying Zelensky could be “irritating” but that “it also seemed like President Trump lost his temper.”
Leavitt pushed back hard, dismissing the idea outright: “I would disagree with that. I think what happened in the Oval Office, I was there, was unfortunately President Zelensky came in with a mindset not wanting to negotiate peace.”
She shifted blame to the Ukrainian leader: “President Zelensky was also antagonistic, and frankly, he was rude. He picked a fight with the Vice President of the United States. He repeatedly interrupted President Trump… After three years of funding this brutal war, [Americans] are sick and tired of footing the bill.”
Kurtz doubled down by saying, “The president kicked him out without the expected agreement about rare minerals, and President Zelensky kept saying he needed security agreements, security because Vladimir Putin had a long history of breaking agreements, so wasn’t that a reasonable point for him to make?”
“Well, that’s not what this meeting was about. And President Zelensky was told that ahead of time… This meeting was about signing an economic partnership between the United States of America and Ukraine,” Leavitt shot back.
When Kurtz interjected—“His country’s at war!” — Leavitt pivoted, arguing Trump is still actively pursuing peace.
“Yeah, I would just say a ceasefire might leave all the Russian land gains intact,” Kurtz replied, before adding: “I’ve never seen anything like it, would have happened behind closed doors. So why hold the meeting in front of the cameras?”
Leavitt replied: “Because President Trump is the most transparent president in history and it was great for the cameras to be in there because the American people and the world were able to see what the president and his team has seen behind the scenes in negotiating with President Zelensky’s team.”
Zelensky has no plans to resign after his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Trump on Friday.
Speaking to reporters at Stansted Airport before he left the UK, Zelensky said that he’s “ready to sign” the minerals deal with the United States, which has been put on hold after his stormy meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Zelensky claimed during the interview that he “just wants the Ukrainian position to be heard” when he was asked about the horrific meeting with Trump on Friday at the White House.
“We want our partners to remember who the aggressor is in this war. We need peace, not endless war,” Zelensky said following a summit in London with Ukraine’s European allies over the weekend.
“In the near future, all of us in Europe will shape our common positions – the lines we must achieve and the lines we cannot compromise on. These positions will be presented to our partners in the United States,” he added.
After Zelensky was taught a lesson by his allies in the Oval Office on Friday, security guarantees from Europe will help mend the rift between Washington and Kyiv.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his country, France, “and others,” would work with Ukraine to come up with a way to end the fighting. They would then present this plan to Washington.
The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, gave diplomatic assurances by saying that the ceasefire on “air, sea, and energy” would give allies a chance to see if Russia was ready to end the war with Ukraine.
In addition, he said he thought Trump and Zelensky could start talking again. This was a message echoed by Peter Mandelson, Britain’s U.S. ambassador, who said on Sunday that relations needed a “very radical reset” and that Zelensky and Trump should try to talk again.
To get the U.S. to support a lasting peace deal again, Ukraine’s European allies have said they are ready to support a truce.
WATCH:
NEW: Volodymyr Zelensky says that nobody can change him from the Presidency:
“As it regards to my resignation…To change me, it will not be easy because it is not enough to simply hold elections… You’ll have to negotiate with me. I’m exchangeable for NATO membership.” pic.twitter.com/LDtgW0AMXr
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) March 3, 2025