With any discussion of this magnitude it’s important to have the full picture.
This is the full 49 minute transcript of the Trump Zelenskyy meeting on Feb 28. The full video is here for those looking to go straight to the source.
We can’t capture the emotions, but the words should help us understand the context a lot better than partial clips that are being shared in the media.
The discussion became heated towards the end but it wasn’t headed that way at all for the first 44 minutes.
(in our opinion, Zelenskyy and JD Vance led to that argument – they tried to argue like children)
President of the United States
Well, thank you very much. It’s an honor to have President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
And we’ve been working very hard, very close. So, we’ve actually known each other for a long time. We’ve been dealing with each other for a long time, and very well. We had a little negotiation spat, but that worked out great! I think for both countries, I think for the world, actually, beyond both countries, and we have something that is a very fair deal. We look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging, and working, and getting some of the rare earth.
But it means we’re going to be inside, and it’s a big commitment from the United States. And we appreciate working with you very much. And we will continue to do that.
We have had some very good discussions with Russia. I spoke with President Putin, and we’re going to try and bring this to a close with something that you want and that he wants. We have to negotiate a deal, but we’ve started the confines of a deal. And I think something can happen.
The big thing is the number of soldiers, mostly at this point, but soldiers being killed. You’re losing thousands of soldiers on both sides. We’re losing a lot of soldiers, and we want to see it stop. And we want to see the money get put to different kinds of use, like rebuilding.
And we’re going to be working very hard. But we’ve had a lot of very good conversations.
We’ll say until we came along, the Biden Administration didn’t speak to Russia whatsoever. They didn’t speak to anybody. They just allowed this to continue. And I will say that, I’ll say in front of you, you’ve heard me say it a thousand times. If I were president, this war would have never happened. We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you’ve gone through.
But you, your soldiers have been unbelievably brave. We’ve given them great equipment, but somebody has to use the equipment. They’ve been unbelievably brave, and we give them great credit.
This was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are, three years later. So, I give tremendous credit to your generals and your soldiers and yourself, in the sense that it’s been very hard fighting, very tough fighting. They have great fighters, and you have to be very proud of them from that standpoint.
But now, we want to get it over with. It’s enough, right? We want to get it over with.
So, it’s an honor to have you here. Thank you very much for coming. We’re going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while, right after lunch. And we’ll be having lunch together. We’re also discussing some other things, and we appreciate everybody being here. It’s a somewhat of an exciting moment, but the really exciting moment is when we stop the shooting, when we get a deal, and I think we’re fairly close to getting that.
President Zelenskyy
Mr. President, thank you for the invitation. And really, I hope that this document, the first document, will be the first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine, our people, our children. I really count on it. And, of course, we count on America not stopping support for us. It’s very important to support and continue it.
I want to discuss it with details further during our conversation. And, of course, the infrastructure or security guarantees.
Because for today, I understand what Europe is ready to do. And, of course, I want to discuss with you what the United States will be ready to do. And I really count on your strong position to stop Putin.
And you said that enough with the war. I think that’s very important to say these words to Putin at the very beginning of the war. Because he is a killer and terrorist. But I hope that together, we can stop him.
But for us, it’s very important to save our country, our values, our freedom, the democracy. And, of course, no compromises with a killer about our territories. But it will be later.
And, of course, I wanted to speak about the drones production. We have very good drones production. I think the best one in the world for today, because of the war. Yes, and, of course, we need very much air defense. You have the best air defense in the world. And really, you help us under attacks of Russians. And I want to speak about how we can exchange licenses. We’re open to share licenses or follow our drones with you, of course, with the United States.
And we need licenses for quick production of air defense, even after the war. We need our nation to be calm, that we are secured. So, that’s why we need this air shield.
And of course about this, I want to speak about the contingence. I think that France and UK already spoke to you, and we know that Europe is ready. But without the United States, they will not be ready to be as strong as we need.
And the last point, last not least, about exchange about our people and children. And you know that this crazy Russians, that they stolen 20,000 of children, Ukrainian children. They changed their names, they changed their families, relatives. And now they are in Russia. We want to bring them back. And really, it’s a big, big dream task and goal for me and our warriors.
We brought, we exchanged, we released more than 4,000 warriors from Russian prison. But there are thousands more in prison. I wanted to share with you some images, how…can I now?
President of the United States
Yes, please, of course
President Zelenskyy
Just to understand what circumstances, what situation they are in, and what the attitude of Russia to our prisons is.
(both looking at the pictures) That guys, before and after. And you see before and after. Just to understand, now thousands of such guys, ladies and men… they don’t eat, they beat them, and they do a lot of bad things.
So, out of even during the war, there are rules everybody knows. There are rules during the war. These guys, they don’t have any rules.
You see that, 50, 60 kilos. And a lot of such things. And I didn’t want to show you what the changes are with images of children. Because I will share, just share with you, I mean… it’s looking tragically.
President of the United States
Yes, that’s tough stuff.
President Zelenskyy
Yeah, wanted very much to give you… and you see this is a Pastor, by the way. They stolen pastors because it’s not Russian Church, stolen pastors and move pastors to prison. We, at the end of last year, we brought three pastors, and we could exchange them. This is Pastor, you see?
President of the United States
Yes, that’s tough stuff.
President Zelenskyy
Yeah, so I mean, this I wanted to show you. And thank you very much.
President of the United States
We want to get that ended, right?
President Zelenskyy
Yeah, yeah, of course, of course,
President of the United States
We will. I think we will. And we have to, of course.
President of the United States
Do you have any questions, please?
Reporter:
Thank you, Mr. President. Um, with the… how much money is the US going to put into the fund that is being created today? And how does this provide long-term security for Ukraine?
President of the United States
Well, we don’t know exactly how much, because we’re going to be putting some money in a fund that we’re going to get from the rare Earth that we’re going to be taking, and sharing in terms of revenue. So, it’s going to be a lot of money, will be made from the sale and from the use of rare Earth. And as you know, our country doesn’t have much rare Earth. We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don’t have a lot of the rare Earth. And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected, but still, it’s not very much. Uh, they have, among the best in the world, in terms of Rare earth.
So, we’re going to be using that, taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including AI, and including weapons, and the military. And it’s really going to very much satisfy our needs.
So, it’s something that just worked out really well. We have a lot of oil, and we have a lot of gas. We have a lot, but we don’t have rare Earth, so uh, this uh, this has just about every component of the rare Earth that we need for computers, for all of the things we do.
This puts us in great shape, and on long-term security for Ukraine, how this provided… I think they’re going to have great long… I think once we make the agreement, that’s going to be 95% of it. It’s, they’re not going to go back to fighting.
Uh, I’ve spoken with President Putin, and uh, I think I mean, I feel very strong. I’ve known him for a long time, and I feel very strongly that uh, they’re very serious about it, and we’ll make a deal. And when the deal is made, I don’t think we talk about security.
Everyone was talking about the other day, all they talked about was security. I said, let me make the deal first. I have to make the deal first. I don’t worry about security right now. I got to have to, we have to have a deal, because right now, last week, 2,000 soldiers died on both sides, 2,000. And they’re losing a thousand, 2,000, 3,000 a week.
So, as we sit here and we talk, people are getting shot and dying on the battlefield. And you know, they’re not American soldiers, but they’re Russian soldiers, and they’re Ukrainian soldiers.
And we want to be able to stop it, and we want to be able also to spend money on other things. We don’t want to… this is a tremendous amount of money. And what the Biden Administration did was terrible. They were giving money, but he had no security on the money. Europe, as you know, gave much less money, but they had security. It was in the form of a loan. They get their money back, and we didn’t. And now, at least we’re protected, because the American taxpayer has to be protected too.
But uh, this is an incredible agreement for Ukraine, because we have a big investment in their country now. And what they have, very few people have, and we’re able to really go forward with very, very high-tech things, and many other things, including weaponry. Weaponry that we’re going to use in many locations, but that we need for our country. This allows… this allows us to do that.
President Zelenskyy
Yes, in the document, there is one of the very important points.
If we speak about business and investment, we never had LG terminals in Ukraine. This document will open… I mean, the next documents, but anyway, the here we see in the framework, we see a really good will for this LG terminals. For us, it’s very important, and I think for security of European continent.
We have the biggest storage gas storage. We have the biggest in Europe. Yes, it’s… yeah. And we can use it for LNG, use it for LNG, and we will do it. And really, we can help Europe, because Europe really helped. President Trump said that they made… uh, less support, but they are our friends, and they’re our very supportive partners. They really gave a lot. Mr. President.
President of the United States
Really?
President Zelenskyy
Yes
President of the United States
But they gave much less.
President Zelenskyy
No
President of the United States
(smiling and jokingly)…much less, don’t argue with me. Okay, fine.
(everyone laughing)
Reporter:
You have repeatedly called the deal with Ukraine a historical one. As the President of the United States, you make historical decisions that affect America and the world. What role do you want to play in world history, and do you associate yourself with any famous historical figures?
President of the United States
Yeah, I’d say George Washington, Abraham Lincoln. I would say I’m far superior to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Now, you know I’m only kidding, right? Because when I say that, the fake news is going to go wild. They’re going to say he considers himself better than Washington. But you never know, you never know. Uh, I don’t compare myself to anybody. I’m here to do a job.
We’ve had a great 35 days, or whatever it might be, a month, a little more than a month. We’ve accomplished tremendous amounts, not only this, but this would be a very great achievement if we could get this war stopped and get them back to normalization.
I think that’s going to happen. We’ve had very good talks on both sides, as you know.
But, uh, I think we’ve done a very good job, just generally, if you look at all of the things we’ve done in 30 days. They’re saying there’s never been an opening for a president like the first month. Uh, there’s never been a first month like we’ve had.
And this is one of the very important things. This is one of the most important things because we have tremendous death taking place as we speak, and I don’t want to have that.
You know, think of the parents, think of whether they’re in Russia or Ukraine, think of the parents of all these people being killed needlessly. This should have never started. This would have never started if I were president.
Reporter:
Will you continue sending military aid to Ukraine after the US signs this agreement with Ukraine?
President of the United States
Yes, we are going to continue to.
Reporter
President Zelenskyy, do you feel like the US is on your side, that President Trump is on your side at this moment?
President Zelenskyy
Turning to Trump, “What’s the question?”
President of the United States
He wants to know if you think…sort of a stupid question really. We won’t be here if I wasn’t.
President Zelenskyy
I think that I think that the United States is on our side from the very beginning of the occupation. And, uh, I think that President Trump is on our side. And, of course, I’m sure that the United States President will not stop support. This is crucial for us; it’s important for us.
Yes, and Putin president speaks about the people and the soldiers which are dying, but they came to our territory, they came to our land, they began this war, and they have to stop. Uh, I think all this is the question with really the most important question: Can President Trump, I hope, yes, with some other allies, stop Putin, withdraw these enemies, our enemies, withdraw these troops from our land?
I think that you asked about the history. I think that if President Trump will stop Putin, if President Trump will bring peace to our country, I think he will be on this wall of time.
President of the United States
We’ve had very, very good talks.
Reporter
President Zelenskyy just said that there would be no compromises with President Putin. I just wanted to ask both of you, firstly, um, are there compromises that you think that President Zelenskyy is going to have to make? And President Zelenskyy, is there anything that you might, you think you may be able to offer or bring to the table, for example, elections? Thank you.
President of the United States
I think you’re going to have to always make compromises. 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. You’re going to have to make some, that’s all. It’s all we can do.
I’m here as an arbitrator, as a mediator, to a certain extent, between two parties that have been very hostile to put it mildly. They’ve been very hostile; it’s been a vicious war.
It’s been a vicious war. You know, it’s a very level battlefield, and those bullets go out, and as I’ve said many times, we’re talking about it with Pete, many times, the only thing stopping those bullets is a human body. And in the case we’re talking about, generally, young human bodies are stopping a lot of bullets. It’s dead level; that’s why it’s great farmland. It’s great land; it’s great farmland, but there’s very little protection against the bullets that are being and other things that are being shot.
So, all I can do is see if I can get everybody at the table and get an agreement. And I think we’re going to end up with an agreement; otherwise, I wouldn’t probably be even here today.
Reporter:
Mr. President, I’ve got two questions for you. You think ultimately your legacy will be “The Peacemaker” and not the president that led this country into another war and ended foreign wars?
President of the United States
I hope I’m going to be remembered as a peacemaker. This would be a great thing if we could do this. I’m doing this to save lives, more than anything else. Second is to save a lot of money, but I considered that to be far less important.
Thank you Brian for that question it was a nice question.
I hope I’ll be known and recognized as a peacemaker. This would be a great thing to solve. This is a very dangerous situation you know this could lead lead to a third world war.
This was headed in the wrong direction if this election were lost, if we didn’t win this election. And by way we won it by a lot. That was a mandate we won every swing state we won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes we won everything uh the districts you look at the areas of of red take a look at a map this was a big mandate.
And this is one of the things I said we’re going to get this thing settled if we didn’t win I think this could have very well ended up in a third world war and that would not have been a good situation.
What was your second question?
Reporter
My second question for President Zelenskyy. Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re the highest, why don’t you wear a suit? You’re the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit. Just want to see if you do own a suit? A lot of Americans have a problem with that.
President Zelenskyy
I will wear costume after this war will finish, okay? Yes, maybe one, maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better. I don’t know, we will see. Maybe something cheaper than yours. Thank you.
Reporter
President Trump, you said yesterday, are you going to send more arms to Ukraine in case there’s no peace?
President of the United States
Yeah, we’re going to send arms to Ukraine. Yeah, sure. Hopefully, I won’t have to send very much because hopefully, we’re going to have it finished. We’re looking forward to finishing this quickly. Uh, we’re not looking forward to sending a lot of arms. We’re looking forward to getting the war finished so we can, uh, do other things.
Reporter
Does that provide security guarantees, Mr. President?
President of the United States
Uh, I don’t want to talk about security yet because I want to get the deal done.
You know, you fall into the same trap like everybody else. A million times, you said it over and over.
I want to get the deal done. Security is so easy; That’s about 2% of the problem. Uh, I’m not worried about security; I’m worried about getting the deal done.
Security is very nice; everybody stopped shooting. And now will Europe put people there? I know France is going to; I know the UK is going to. I know other countries are going to, and they happen to be right next door.
We haven’t committed but we could conceivably.
You know we have Security in a different form. We’ll have workers there uh digging digging digging taking the rare Earth so that we can create a lot of great product in this country. So in that sense you have something but we haven’t determined that yet.
I will say that in speaking to France and in speaking to UK, and they were here as you know last week, and just the other day, they have committed to a lot of security. I don’t think you’re going to need much security I think once this deal gets done it’s
over. Russia’s not going to want to go back and nobody’s going to want to go back when this when this deal ends I really believe its going to be over.
Reporter
Mr. President, thank you. Uh, you had the leaders of France and UK here at the White House this past week. Both of whom praised your courage and conviction to lead the pathway towards peace.
Part of that involved though, re-engaging Russia in diplomatic relations, something that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do.
So, what gave you the moral courage and conviction to step forward and lead that?
President of the United States
Well, I love this guy. Who are you with? One American News, sir? Well, that’s why I like him. One American News does a great job. That’s very, I like the question. I think it’s a very good question.
It is, it’s a pathway to peace; it’s a pathway to getting something solved. And I feel that, as the head of this country, I have an obligation to do that. plus you know we’re very much involved. It’s too bad we got involved because there should have been no involvement because there should have been no war and there shouldn’t have been October 7th. That would have never happened. As you know, Iran was broke. They had no money to give to Hezbollah, they had no money to give to Hamas they were stone cold broke and then under Biden they became rich as hell they went from no money to $300 billion in a period of four years and they gave a lot of that money away and you see what happened and that’s a real mess also that we hope to be able to solve.
But I appreciate your question very much. I just I feel I have an obligation to try and do something to stop the death.
President Zelenskyy
Can I also answer please.
President of the United States
Yes of course.
I do like your clothing by the way. (everyone laughing).
(Disapprovingly looking at reporter who asked the suit question) I know he’s a great guy, and I don’t know if you two like each other, but you know what, I think he’s dressed beautifully. (taps Zelenskyy on the back).
President Zelenskyy
(smiling). I have more serious questions to answer on.
President of the United States
That’s a good save. (looking at the reporter with disapproval)
President Zelenskyy
About security guarantees, and about just a ceasefire, we can’t just speak about ceasefire and speak and speak, it will not work. Just ceasefire will never work, because I’m like a president, I have, I have this experience, and not only me, Ukraine, before, before my presidency, from 2014, Putin broken 25 times, 25 times. He broken his own signature. 25 times, he broken ceasefire.
President of the United States
He never broke it with me, never.
President Zelinskyy
No, no, you were the president, you were the president, in 2016 (Trump took office in 2017), you’ve been the president. Mr. President, you’ve been the president, but he, of course, not with you.
But he had, during those periods, he had conversations with our side, and we had Normandy format, you know, France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia. And he broke it 25 times. That’s why we will never accept just ceasefire. It will not work without security guarantees.
Security guarantees, maybe, president is right about this document, and other, but this document is not enough. Strong army is enough, because his soldiers are afraid, Putin’s soldiers are afraid of our soldiers if we are not strong enough, if we are empty, if our storage is empty, we can’t defend our land.
Today, you know, he knows that we have, all the world knows that we have, meeting, yes. Then why he’s using ballistic, Putin, today, using ballistic on our hospital, schools, etc., ballistic, so he knows that we are here, and that President Trump is really having goodwill to stop, to stop this war, and I, and you here now, so why he’s using, so he doesn’t want to stop, he doesn’t want, but I hope that we will do it, really, we’ll do it.
When we speak about security guarantees, when the Europeans are ready for contingence, they need USA backup. If the world will not be United States, we will not never have any contingent, strong contingent, from the Europeans, because they don’t want to divide all connection between the United States, their main and strongest ally, and Europeans.
And this is crucial, this is important, that what we want to speak about, very much, this is very important, and they are defense, so air defense, really, we have big deficit with all these systems, and we need to provide this, we, we need it very much,
Otherwise, Putin will never stop, and will go further, and further, he doesn’t want, he, he hates us, you know, it’s not about me, he hates Ukrainians, he thinks that we are not a nation. He thinks, and he shared these words, I think, maybe, with your team, also, I don’t know, but with all the Europeans, in media, officially, and not, he always said that there is no such country, such nation, such language, and such life, like Ukrainian. No, he really doesn’t respect all the Ukrainians, and he wants to destroy us.
We, we, and you are right, Mr. President, that’s 2% this document, maybe other documents,
It’s a very good start, very good, but it will not enough to stop this person.
Reporter
Should Russia pay to rebuild Ukraine?
President Zelenskyy
That is the rule, this is the rule of the war. This is the rule of the war. During all the centuries, all the history, this is the rule of the war, who began those, pay, do you, this is the rule, Putin began this war, he has to pay, all money, for renovation, he has to pay, of course, some Russian assets, what we have, uh, in Europe, about 300 billion, we can use them, we can use for renovation, and buy military support from the United States, also, we can do it, but it’s not enough, it’s not enough.
Reporter
I wanted to know, if you want to position yourself in the middle, between Russia and Ukraine, or on the Ukraine side.
President of the United States
No, I’m in the middle, I want to solve this thing, I’m for, I’m for both, I want to get it solved, and, uh, it’s wonderful to speak badly about somebody else, but, uh, I want to get it solved.
Reporter
May I follow up one more question about US troops in Europe after Russian invasion of Ukraine, your predecessor sent additional troops to Eastern Europe including Poland. Are you committed to keeping these troops on the Eastern flank of NATO in the future.
President of the United States
I’m very committed to Poland. I think Poland has really stepped up and done a great job for NATO. They, as you know, they paid more than they had to. They are one of the finest groups of people I’ve ever known. Poland’s in a tough neighborhood.
Reporter
What about the Baltics?
President of the United States
The Baltics, uh, it’s a tough neighborhood too. But we’re committed, we’re going to be very committed, and we’re committed to NATO. But NATO has to step up, and the Europeans have to step up more than they have.
I want to see them equalize, because they are in for far more than we’re in, and they should be at least equal.
You understand that? Why is the United States, we have an ocean in between, why is the United States in for so much more money and other things as Europe. With that being said, and as you said, they’ve also been obviously very helpful but we have put in far more than they have and I think they should equalize.
Reporter
Mr. President, ask about the agreement again today, what changed between the first time that Secretary Bess gave President Zelenskyy the agreement and today for the signing?
President of the United States
What we made a deal, so that was deciding factor? I’m a business person, we made a deal, that’s what changed. I didn’t think we were going to make a deal, and, uh, we ended up making the deal, so that changes.
Reporter
Mr. President, what and how do you envision a trilateral summit with President Zelenskyy and Putin?
President of the United States
I don’t know, well, they don’t like each other. I can tell you that, they do not like each other. This is not a love match, and it’s unfortunate, that’s why you’re in this situation.
The United States should not have allowed this to happen, okay. The United States, run by a man that didn’t know much, I’m going to be very nice, run by an incompetent person, very incompetent person, should never have allowed this to happen.
President Zelenskyy
I want really to tell you, and I think that everybody understands, that Ukraine, more than Ukrainians, nobody wants more to stop this war. But in the future, any negotiations, it’s understandable that two sides of the war, not Russia and the United States, because this is not the war between Russia and the United States. This is war of Russia against Ukraine and Ukrainian people. So these two sides will be at the any, will be at the negotiation, and negotiation table, then, of course, United States, like the strongest partner of the Ukraine, and, of course, Europe. I think Europe is very important. I want to speak about it with the president.
Yes, Europe is very important for us, because we really defend Europe for today. All Europeans really recognize that we are defending line. They have real life, and our people are dying. That’s why they helped us.
And also, it’s about, yes, between, like the president said, you have big, nice ocean, yes, between us, but if we will not stay, Russia will go further, to Baltics, and to Poland, by the way, but first to the Baltics, it’s understandable for them, because they’ve been, they’ve been in the USSR, you know, they’ve been one of the republics of the USSR, and Putin wants to bring them back to his Empire, it’s a fact.
And when he will go there, if we will not stay, you will fight, your American soldiers, it doesn’t matter, do you have ocean, or not, your soldiers will fight.
Reporter
Mr. President, would you be willing to visit Ukraine, maybe Kiev, or Odessa, which is known to be the pearl of the Black Sea?
President of the United States
I’m sorry, I don’t want to talk about Odessa now. Let’s not talk about Odessa. I want to talk about making a deal, getting peace. We don’t have to talk about Odessa, but a lot of cities have been destroyed, a lot of cities that are not recognizable, there’s not a building standing.
President Zelenskyy
Mr. President, you have to come and to look, no, no, no, we have very good cities, yes, a lot of things been destroyed, but mostly cities alive, and people work, and children go to school, sometimes it’s very difficult, sometimes closer to Front Line, children have to go to underground schools or online, but we live, Ukraine is fighting, and Ukraine lives, this is very important. And maybe it’s Putin is sharing this information that he destroyed us. No, he lost 700,000 people, 700,000 soldiers he lost.
Reporter
Mr. President, one more, when did you last speak with President Putin, and what did he say that gave you the assurance that he wanted peace?
President of the United States
Well, that’s what I do, my whole life is deals, I know pretty good, uh, and I really, I’ve uh, I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve dealt with him for a long time, he had to suffer through the uh Russia hoax, you know, Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax, it was all Biden, it was nothing to do with him, so he had to suffer through that, and he, he was able to do that, uh, I think that uh he wants to make a deal, and he’d like to see it end.
I’m in the middle of a mess because this is a real mess it’s a very dangerous one if this doesn’t get solved now it’s not going to get solved for a long time so I hope we’re going to get it done.
Reporter
Thank you, Mr. President, uh, Prime Minister Starmer repeatedly said that his government believes in free speech and was not engaged in censorship, uh, but his country’s government arrests people for memes and thought crimes, and even more worrisome is pressuring uh American companies to censor Americans on his behalf, um, How can he be a reliable, trustworthy partner when he says things that are demonstrably false on such an important topic?
President of the United States
Well, we actually spoke to him about that yesterday, and we thought they took it very, very much too far, JD was very strong on it, so was I, so was Marco, and we’ve been speaking to him about it. Marco, would you like to say something.
Marco Rubio
We have concerns, obviously, with the conduct of those, particularly as it impacts Americans, and there’s real concern that American speech, which is online, could fall into the hands of British, or any country’s jurisdiction.
And so this is a point the Vice President made at Munich. I think it’s a very compelling one, that what unites us with Europe, as much as anything else, is these shared values, and one of them being free speech.
And so, if Americans are threatened by it, we’re going to need to take action in that regard.
JD Vance
We, we spoke about this in detail with the Prime Minister, and the foreign secretary, and others, at lunch yesterday, and I know that Secretary of Commerce Lutnick followed up in private meeting last night.
This is really important, we believe Americans have the right to speak their mind, even if we, in this room, disagree with them, they have the right to speak their mind, in the Public Square, which is often online these days, and we’re going to defend that right, as it pertains to American companies, and American citizens, vigorously, if we have to.
I do think that, under the President’s leadership, we’re going to find common ground with our friends in the UK on this question, but it remains to be seen, the principle that will guide us is, we believe in free speech in this country, and we’ll fight for, for American citizens.
Reporter
Mr. President, on the deal, is there any other oil and gas component to the deal?
President of the United States
A little bit, we’ll see, on LNG, but we’re not really looking for that so much, we got a lot, we have more than anybody in the world, by far, so no, we’re not talking about it too much, but a little bit, I think it, it, it affects also, but, uh, for the most part, no.
Reporter
Is there any agreement from Ukraine to purchase US LNG as part of the deal, or is that on the table at all?
President of the United States
No, we don’t need this.
Reporter
How was the latest call with President Putin? What did you discuss?
President of the United States
Are you serious with that question? It went well, I think we’re going to have a deal soon.
Reporter
Some of those minerals are in the east of Ukraine, not far from the front lines, and in areas that Russia has occupied. Will you direct President Putin to withdraw his forces from those areas if there’s a US interest?
President of the United States
Well, we’ll take a look at that, at the time, we have a lot of area, uh, it’s a very big area, we’re talking about, so we’ll take a look.
Reporter
And who would protect those minerals if they are a US interest? Would that be Ukrainian forces that would be protected by the agreement?
President of the United States
The agreement will protect them, yeah, we’re signing an agreement.
Reporter
But what if Russia tries to invade or there’s Russian aggression in those spots?
President of the United States
I just told you, I don’t think that’s going to happen, and if that were going to happen, I wouldn’t make a deal, if I thought that was going to happen, I wouldn’t make a deal.
Some people may wonder why… they ought to focus on CNN on survival, not asking me these ridiculous questions. Focus on surviving, because CNN’s got such low ratings, I don’t think they’re going to survive. Lets go.
Reporter
I already mentioned Poland, that Poland was under Russian control for decades after the Second World War. When I was a kid, I looked at the United States not only as the most powerful country, richest country in the world, the country that has great music, great movies, great muscle cars, but also as a force for good. And now I’m talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself too much with Putin?
What’s your message to them?
President of the United States
Well, if I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal.
You want me to say, uh, really terrible things about Putin, and then say, “hi, Vladimir, how are we doing on the deal?”
That doesn’t work that way.
I’m not aligned with Putin, I’m not aligned with anybody, I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I’m aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with.
You see the hatred he’s got for Putin, it’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hatred. He’s got tremendous hatred. And I understand that. But I can tell you, the other side isn’t exactly in love with, you know, him either.
So it’s not a question of alignment. I’m aligned with the world. I’m aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done.
You want me to be tough, I could be tougher than any human being you’ve ever seen. I’d be so tough, but you’re never going to get a deal that way so that’s the way it goes.
JD Vance
I’d like to respond to this, so look, 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, see, that’s what President Trump is doing.
President Zelenskyy
Can I ask you?
He occupied, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, part of East and Crimea, uh, so he occupied it on 2014. So during a lot of years, I’m not speaking about just Biden, but those times, was Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump, and God bless, now President Trump will stop him.
But during 2014, nobody stopped him, he just occupied, and took, he killed people.
President of the United State
2014? I was not here.
President Zelenskyy
Yeah, but exactly right, yes, but during 2014 till 2022, yeah, the situation was the same, that people have been dying on the contact line, nobody stopped him.
You know that we had conversations with him a lot, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversations, and we signed with him, me, like a new president in 2019, I signed with him the deal, I signed with him, Macron, and Merkel, we signed ceasefire, ceasefire, all of them told me that he will never go, we signed him a gas contract, yes, but after that, he broke this 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 are you speaking about?
JD 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 and 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.
President Zelenskyy
Have you ever been to Ukraine? That you say what problems we have?
JD Vance
I’ve been to…
President Zelenskyy
You’ve come once
JD Vance
I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens, is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour.
Mr. President, are you disagreeing that you’ve had problems with bringing people into your military? Do you think it’s 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?
President Zelenskyy
A lot of questions, let’s start from the beginning, first of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean, and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future, God bless you.
President of the United States
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.
President Zelenskyy
I’m not telling you.
President of the United States
Because you’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.
(Zelenskyy talking too at the same time over POTUS).
Remember this. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good, we’re going to feel very good and very strong. You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position.
He (JD Vance) happens to be right, from the very beginning of the war, you’re not in a good position,
You don’t have the cards right now. You’re playing cards.
President Zelenskyy
I’m not playing cards.
President of the United States
Well, yes you are playing cards. Right now. With us, you start having cards. Right now, you don’t. You’re playing cards, and you’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You are gambling with World War III.
(Trump continues with Zelenskyy protesting) 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.
JD Vance
Have you said thank you once this entire meeting?
No, in this entire meeting, did you say thank you?
You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the President who’s trying to save your country.
President Zelenskyy
Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can,
President of the United States
He’s not speaking loudly, he’s not speaking loudly, your country is in big trouble.
President Zelenskyy
Can I, can I
President of the United States
Wait a minute, no, no, you’ve done a lot of talking, your country is in big trouble,
President Zelenskyy
I know, I know
President of the United States
And you’re not winning, you’re not winning this. But you have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us.
President Zelenskyy
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. in this cabinet.
President of the United States
(touching President Zelenskyy on his shoulder as reassurance) You haven’t been alone, you haven’t been, we gave you through this stupid president $350 billion,
President Zelenskyy
You invited me to speak.
President of the United States
We gave you military equipment, and you men are brave, but they had to use our military, if you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.
President Zelenskyy
(satirically) in three days. I heard it from Putin, in three days. This is something, maybe in two weeks, of course, yes,
President of the United States
It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.
JD Vance
Just say thank you, 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.
President of the United States
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, you don’t have the cards.
President Zelenskyy
I am thankful.
President of the United States
You’re buried here, your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers.
President Zelenskyy
I know, don’t… Mr. President
President of the United States
Just listen. You’re running low on soldiers. A ceasefire would be a damn good thing.
And then you, then you tell us, “I don’t want cease fire, I want to go, and I want to…”
Look, if you could get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it, so the bullets stop flying, and your men stop getting killed.
President Zelenskyy
Of course, we want to stop the war
President of the United States
But you’re saying you don’t want a ceasefire, I want a ceasefire,
President Zelenskyy
With guarantees
President of the United States
Because you’ll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.
President Zelenskyy
Just ask our people about ceasefire, what they think.
President of the United States
That wasn’t with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who was not a smart person, And it was with Obama,
President Zelenskyy
Also you Mr. President
President of the United States
That was with Obama, who gave you sheets. I gave you Javelins.
President Zelenskyy
Yes
President of the United States
I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks, Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is, “Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave Javelins”.
You 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.
Reporter
One more question Mr Vice President. I’m sorry,
President of the United States
It’s going to be a tough deal to make, because the attitudes have to change,
Reporter
What if Russia breaks this ceasefire? What if Russia breaks his talks, what do you do then? understand
President of the United States
What are you saying?
JD Vance
She’s asking, “what if Russia breaks the ceasefire?”,
President of the United States
(frustrated) What if they…. what if anything….what if a bomb drops on your head right now? Okay, what if he broke it, I don’t know, they broke it with Biden, because Biden, they 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 phony Witch Hunt, where they used him, and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, you ever hear of that deal, that was a phony, that was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam, Hillary Clinton, Shifty Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam.
And he had to go through that, and he did go through it. We didn’t end up in a war, and he went through it, he was accused of all that stuff. He had nothing to do with it, it came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom, it came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom, it was disgusting.
And then they said, oh, oh, the laptop from hell, was made by Russia. The 51 agents, the whole thing was a scam. And he had to put up with that, he was being accused of all that stuff.
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 didn’t, I don’t know what happened, but he didn’t break them with me.
He wants to make a deal.
(looking at Zelenskyy) I don’t know if you can make a deal. The problem is, we’ve empowered you 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. 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 (to the media in the room), uh, I think we’ve seen enough, what do you think. This is going to be great television, I will say that.
All right, we’ll see what we can do. We’ll see.
