Russia Is Already Celebrating Trump’s Horrific Meeting With Zelenskiy

After Donald Trump and JD Vance’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Friday devolved into a shouting match where Trump kicked Zelenskiy out of the White House, Russian leaders couldn’t help but gloat.

Dmitry Medvedev, a former figurehead prime minister and president under Vladimir Putin and now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, posted on X that “the insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office. And @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII.’”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had worse words to describe Zelenskiy, and was full of praise for Trump and Vance.

“I think Zelensky’s BIGGEST lie, among all his lies, was his statement at the White House that the Kyiv regime was left alone, without support, in 2022,” Zakharova said. “How Trump and Vance managed to restrain themselves and not smack this bastard—it’s a miracle of self-control.”

Russian Senator Andrei Klishas said in a Telegram post that the Oval Office meeting ended in“a brilliant result,” adding that the “Kyiv clown” Zelenskiy “played his role of a ‘president’ poorly in the White House and was thrown out for bad behavior and disrespect towards the U.S.”

It seems that Vance and Trump did Russia a great service in their disaster of a meeting with Zelenskiy, which was supposed to involve a deal for Ukraine’s mineral rights. Most Republicans seem to back the White House, giving Trump the license to overhaul U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine in favor of something closer to Russia’s desires over the objections of the few GOP dissenters. Friday seems to have been a win for Vladimir Putin.

Republicans in Congress are cheering on Donald Trump’s disastrous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Friday, which ended with a hasty exit from Zelenskiy, a canceled press conference, and no mineral rights deal.

Zelenskiy was reportedly kicked out of the White House after discussions turned into a shouting match in full view of the press and visitors, including Ukraine’s U.S. ambassador and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It seems that most Republicans in Congress couldn’t be happier with how things went.

Representative Anna Paulina seems to think that Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s belligerence increased the likelihood of peace, posting a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post summing up the president’s view of the meeting as Zelenskiy not being ‘“ready for peace if America is involved.”

Senator Mike Lee praised the president’s reaction, posting, “Thank you for standing up for OUR COUNTRY and putting America first, President Trump and Vice President Vance!” Senator Josh Hawley seemed to praise Trump as well, calling Trump’s remark that Zelenskiy was gambling with his country’s future “accurate.”.

“Remember: the U.S. Senate has repeatedly and for years voted BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine with no strings attached and with no true oversight. It’s time for some ACCOUNTABILITY,” Hawley wrote in a follow-up post.

Representative Nancy Mace praised the meeting as peace through strength,” while Representative Byron Donalds, who recently got Trump’s endorsement in the Florida governor’s race, thanked Trump and Vance.

“This is what putting the AMERICAN PEOPLE FIRST looks like,” Donalds posted.

Even Representative Victoria Spartz, who is from Ukraine, joined in bashing Zelenskiy and praising Trump.

Senator Lindsey Graham, at one time a staunch supporter of Ukraine, saw an opportunity to bash Zelenskiy and call for his replacement.

It seems that in one meeting, Trump and Vance may have blown up U.S. relations with Ukraine and sent a message to European allies that they will not be working together against Russia. And with Republicans in Congress behind him, aid to Ukraine may now be over for good.

Donald Trump and JD Vance had a disastrous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. And while most Republicans are cheering on their fearless leader, at least two GOP members have found the courage to criticize the Trump administration.

Trump and Vance were incredibly condescending and verbally hostile toward Zelenskiy in their Friday meeting, likely destroying whatever allyship and goodwill the two countries shared. They both constantly interrupted and yelled over Zelenskiy, insisting that he had shown no gratitude for the previous aid he’d received, that he was being disrespectful for defending his country, and that he was “gambling with World War III.”

This moment is a point of climax in the GOP’s turn away from Ukraine and toward Russia. But the meeting left at least some Republicans shocked.

“Our White House leaders sound like the Democrats in the 1970s and 1980s in regard to Russia. Reagan was right then,” Representative Don Bacon told The Wall Street Journal’s Olivia Beavers. “A bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets, and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom.” Bacon was notably one of 35 Republicans who voted with Democrats to establish the investigative January 6 commission in 2021.

Representative Mike Lawler, an otherwise staunch Trump supporter, felt similarly.

“Today’s meeting in the Oval Office was a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine—an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security cooperation,” Lawler wrote on X. “Diplomacy is tough and often times there are serious differences of opinion and heated exchanges behind closed doors. Having this spill out into public view was a disaster—especially for Ukraine. As someone who fundamentally believes that Russia, China and Iran are not our friends or allies and continues to believe it is important to support Ukraine, it was extremely short-sighted to engage in that type of exchange in front of the US and international press as you work towards an agreement. Sadly, the only winner of today is Vladimir Putin.”

Trump and Vance have lambasted Zelenskiy for weeks, calling him a dictator, saying that Ukraine started the war, and making any aid to Ukraine conditional on the grounds that they hand over their “rare earths”—all moves sure to delight the Kremlin.

Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s joint press conference was canceled Friday, after a disastrous meeting between the world leaders.

The press conference was set to take place Friday afternoon, only to be unceremoniously canceled after a reportedly tense exchange between the two men.

The White House told reporters that Trump had kicked Zelenskiy out, but Zelenskiy has not commented yet on whether he was asked to leave or if he left on his own accord.

Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich reported that the White House claimed that Zelenskiy’s team was “begging to reset” after the meeting, but that the Ukrainian president had been dismissed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Clearly expecting to be showered with praise, Trump and Vance were triggered by Zelenskiy’s demeanor and rhetoric. The White House claimed that the world leader had been “shrugging and rolling his eyes” throughout their conversation, and that the president and U.S. officials felt disrespected.

Zelenskiy did not sign the rare minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine before his early departure.

The minerals deal was a key feature of ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine to get paid back for the billions in aid that the U.S. has supplied to the war-torn country. While Trump claims the U.S. has provided $350 billion, the real number is closer to $174 billion. The deal would funnel half of the Eastern European nation’s rare earth minerals—hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of materials—into the American market.

For now, the deal seems dead in the water.

Trump posted on Truth Social shortly before canceling the press conference, attempting to downplay just how much of a catastrophe their shouting match—er, meeting had been. Clearly expecting to be showered with praise, Trump and JD Vance took turns flying off the handle as the Ukrainian president attempted to answer their questions.

“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure,” Trump wrote.

Trump also indicated that Ukraine had been disinvited from negotiations to end Russia’s unlawful and deadly invasion into its territory.

“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” he wrote.

This story has been updated.

The Democratic Party is fighting back.

On Friday, the Democratic National Committee, as well as two other national party committees, filed a lawsuit against President Trump, stating that his executive order to seize control of the Federal Elections Commission breaks federal law.

Trump’s order also claims authority over a vast array of other federal agencies, like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board. But the targeting of the FEC makes up the Democrats’ lawsuit, as it’s a clear bold-faced move that could place the future of free and fair elections in jeopardy.

“Executive Order 14215 grounds its unprecedented assertion of presidential power in Article II of the U.S. Constitution. But the constitutionality of FECA’s vesting of authority in the FEC is beyond question,” the DNC wrote in its suit.

“The assertion is incompatible with nearly a century’s worth of Supreme Court precedent blessing Congress’s authority to insulate certain agencies and officials from day-to-day control by the president,” the lawsuit states.

“Congress’s authority is especially true in this context, where the credibility of the entire regulatory enterprise would be fatally undermined if the party controlling the White House can unilaterally structure campaign rules and adjudicate disputes to disadvantage its electoral competitors.”

This is the Democratic Party’s first lawsuit against Trump during his second term.

The White House has yet to respond.