Logan Church: Zelensky was never going to win with Trump

It started out so well.

Donald Trump invited Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House today in Washington DC to sign a rare earth mineral deal, in which Ukraine would give up some of its valuable deposits in exchange for American military aid.

The two seemed cordial and respectful of each other when the meeting in the Oval Office began, surrounded by media and television crews.

Zelensky even brought out pictures showing Trump pictures of Ukrainian prisoners of war returned from Russia.

"We want to get that ended, right?" Trump said.

“Of course," Zelensky responded.

"I think we will."

And then it became a shouting match.

One thing that particularly seemed to set Trump off was when Zelensky warned the US president that America would one day feel Putin’s influence directly if it wasn’t careful.

Which Trump – who has long touted his personal relationship with Putin – was having none of.

“You have a nice ocean and don't feel [it] now, but you will feel it in the future..."

"You don't know that,” Trump interjected. “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.”

It then escalated further.

“You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards,” said Trump.

“I'm not playing cards,” Zelensky responded.

“You're playing cards.”

“I'm serious, Mr President, I'm very serious. I'm the president in a war.”

“You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War 3. You're gambling with World War 3, and what you're doing is very disrespectful, disrespectful to the country, this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have," said Trump.

Vice President JD Vance also took it upon himself to tell off Zelensky when Ukraine's President pointed out that Putin had broken earlier agreements with Ukraine and questioned how diplomacy could resolve that.

“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” asked Zelensky of Vance. “What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country. But, Mr President, 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,” said Vance.

As a side note, the media were only in the Oval Office at the invitation of the White House.

Trump’s position has been that due to the sheer amount of bloodshed and destruction – and ultimately cost to the American taxpayer – the war needs to end by both sides coming to an agreement.

Ukraine equally wants the war to end – it's lost about 20% of its territory to Russia – but it doesn’t want to cede an inch of Ukrainian land to a foreign power that illegally invaded. And it’s worried about the precedent that would set – would Putin feel emboldened to go even further, try to take more of Ukraine, invade another country even? It’s a position that most western countries – New Zealand included – maintain.

Ukraine wants to go to the negotiation table with as strong a position as possible – ideally with security guarantees from the United States, whether that’s more aid or even soldiers on the ground.

But the opportunity to argue for that happened turned into a diplomatic circus – and a disaster for Ukraine as Trump reportedly cancelled a planned joint conference, cancelled the deal signing, and essentially booted Zelensky from the White House without the customary goodbye wave. Trump did say, “Come back when you want to talk peace” (check wording). But then, in following remarks to the media, he said Zelensky "overplayed his hand" and "wants to fight, fight, fight".

Ongoing US support for Ukraine is now totally up in the air.

So, where did it go so horribly wrong for Ukraine?

Zelensky was the third world leader this week to visit Trump in the Oval Office. Emmanuel Macron of France treated Trump like a long-lost friend, gently correcting him over one of Trump’s falsehoods and then nodding along as Trump brushed that off.

Sir Keir Starmer of the UK came with the gift of a state invite from King Charles and a lot of very careful language around Ukraine that wouldn’t have set Trump off.

They were both a masterclass in political schmoozing.

Zelensky, however, came across – at least from Trump’s perspective - as combative.

Ukraine’s President, defending himself and his country against all manner of accusations, was seen by the Americans as Zelensky, looking for a fight.

Trump is not a traditional politician – he is a bullish businessperson used to getting his way by any means necessary, whether in the boardroom, in the White House, on the set of The Apprentice – Trump has always been Trump.

Trump and Vance were rude, argumentative, and disrespectful.

But Zelensky should have expected that.

It is true that Zelensky is, however, in a near-impossible position with the United States – one of the key issues is that a lot of what Donald Trump is claiming simply isn’t true. And as President of Ukraine, it’s his job to stand up to lies being told about it.

For example, Trump’s been telling the USA – and Zelensky today – that the United States has provided US$350 billion in aid to Ukraine during this latest part of the war.

What the US has given Ukraine is closer to US$120 billion, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Yes, it's a sizable figure, but a lot less than $350b USD.

Today, Trump and Vance loudly berated Zelensky for being “ungrateful”.

At almost every opportunity since Russia’s latest invasion, Zelensky has loudly praised and thanked America for its support – including in the Oval Office today.

Vance then accused Zelensky of campaigning for Joe Biden ahead of the election - which is, again, totally untrue.

But considering the might and power of America, it’s all irrelevant. When you are the president of the world’s greatest superpower, Trump's reality has great bearing on the world’s reality - even if some of it’s built on falsehoods.

And the fact remains that unless Ukraine’s European neighbours plough a lot more military support into Ukraine’s defence, now, it won’t be able to hold the Russia invasion back for much longer.