Trump’s Oval Office outburst with Zelensky, annotated
By John Mecklin, Thomas Gaulkin | March 1, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House on February 28 didn’t go well. He was there to discuss a minerals agreement and secure continued US support from Donald Trump for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Most of their nearly-hour long Oval Office meeting with reporters was polite. But about 40 minutes in, with dozens of cameras in the room, Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump began scolding Zelensky, derailing both the meeting and the minerals deal, and shocking viewers around the world.
Here, we present that stormy portion of the meeting in its entirety, with notes and facts to guide you through the astonishing event:
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Keywords: Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Russia, Russia-Ukraine war, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, rare earths
Topics: Multimedia, Nuclear Risk, Special Topics
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John Mecklin
John Mecklin is the editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Miller-McCune... Read More
Thomas Gaulkin
Thomas Gaulkin is multimedia editor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Prior to joining the Bulletin in 2018, he spent the... Read More
