WASHINGTON — All it took was 90 seconds for weeks of tortured diplomacy to unwind in spectacular fashion. President Donald Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday laid bare the limits of a full-court press by America’s allies aimed at reshaping Trump’s determination to end Russia’s invasion even if the terms are not to Ukraine’s liking.
It also stressed the profound ways Trump feels emboldened to redirect U.S. foreign policy priorities toward his “America First” agenda in ways that extend well beyond those of his tumultuous first term.
The sudden blowup was the most heated public exchange of words between world leaders in the Oval Office in memory, as the usual staid work of diplomacy descended into finger-pointing, shouting and eye-rolling.
The encounter left the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and Kyiv’s ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy. “You either make a deal or we are out,” Trump told Zelenskyy, underscoring the American leader’s plans to dictate a swift end to the war or leave its longtime ally to continue the fight without its strongest backer.
The stunning episode capped a week of what turned out to be largely futile efforts by U.S. allies to paper over differences between Washington and Kyiv and to try to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron huddled with Trump to lay the groundwork for an eventual European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine aimed at deterring future Russian aggression and to encourage the U.S. president to be more skeptical of Vladimir Putin.
But even as Trump and Macron greeted each other with a vise-like grip, the U.S. was splitting with its European allies at the United Nations by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in a series of resolutions marking the three-year anniversary of the war.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington and appealed to Trump for a U.S. “backstop” for European nations who would provide front-line security for Ukraine. He was in essence looking for insurance that, should a peace deal be reached, Russia won’t restart the fighting in the future. Starmer brought flattery and a state visit invitation from King Charles III to soften the ask.
The approach seemed to work, as Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling America’s support for the country against Russia’s invasion “a very worthy thing to do” and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”
But Trump also brushed aside Putin’s past broken diplomatic promises, claiming they occurred under different presidents, and saying the Russian leader had never violated a commitment to him. It came as his aides were planning a series of negotiating sessions with Russian officials to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.
All the while, Trump was focused on securing a financial stake in Ukraine’s critical minerals to recoup the tens of billions the U.S. has given to Kyiv to defend itself. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, wanted more than Washington’s vague promises that the U.S. would work to preserve its economic interest in Ukraine under the agreement and pushed for more concrete security guarantees.
