Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump and his administration\u2019s foreign policy agenda Friday during a tense exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy \u2014 inserting himself into a spotlight rarely seen by vice presidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump and Vance sparred in the Oval Office Friday with Zelenskyy amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine \u2014 an exchange that ultimately prompted Trump to announce an end to peace negotiations and request that the Ukrainian leader leave the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that there was no expectation of the meeting leading to a combative exchange, and that Trump and Vance were both caught off guard by Zelenskyy\u2019s behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While vice presidents traditionally remain in the wings while the president takes center stage, Friday\u2019s encounter with Zelenskyy exposed the weight Vance carries directing and advancing the Trump administration\u2019s America First agenda \u2014 both at home and abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward-Isaac Dovere, a senior CNN reporter, said the moment may have amounted to one of the most significant for the vice presidency, just behind Vice President Dick Cheney\u2019s efforts backing the U.S. to invade Iraq.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Possible that JD Vance today had the most significant 90 seconds of his vice presidency, and the biggest impact any VP other than Cheney has had on shifting American foreign policy in the way he changed the trajectory of the conversation in the Oval Office today,\u2019 Dovere said in a Friday post on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Oval Office encounter with Zelenskyy also comes on the heels of Vance\u2019s Feb. 14 appearance at the Munich Security Conference \u2014 an event that left a lasting impression on European nations and their relationships with the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Specifically, Vance said Russia and China don\u2019t pose as great a threat to European nations as the \u2018threat from within,\u2019 in reference to issues like censorship and illegal immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don\u2019t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,\u2019 Vance said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The remarks prompted backlash from European leaders, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who said he interpreted the remarks as a comparison to \u2018conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tensions escalated in the Oval Office Friday after Zelenskyy pushed back on Vance\u2019s statements that the path forward was through diplomacy, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken other agreements in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?\u2019 Zelenskyy said. \u2018What do you mean?\u2019<\/p>\n
In response, Vance said, \u2018I\u2019m talking about the kind of diplomacy that\u2019s going to end the destruction of your country.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Mr. President, with respect, I think it\u2019s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,\u2019 Vance told Zelenskyy. \u2018Right 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 bringing it, to bring it into this country.\u2019<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy then asked Vance if he\u2019d ever visited Ukraine, prompting Vance to question again if Zelenskyy disagreed that Ukraine has had challenges recruiting new troops.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018And do you think that it\u2019s 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?\u2019 Vance said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy replied that everyone faces challenges during wartime, and that although an ocean protected the U.S. from Russia, he cautioned that the U.S. would feel the threat eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t tell us what we\u2019re going to feel,\u2019 Trump said. \u2018We\u2019re trying to solve a problem. Don\u2019t tell us what we\u2019re going to feel.<\/p>\n
\u2018You are in no position to dictate that, remember that.\u2019<\/p>\n
Vance and Zelenskyy also sparred when Vance asked if Zelenskyy had ever said \u2018thank you once this entire meeting,\u2019 prompting Zelenskyy to assert that Vance was speaking \u2018loudly.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump then snapped at Zelenskyy and warned him that Ukraine was in \u2018big trouble.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Wait a minute,\u2019 Trump said. \u2018No, no, you\u2019ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.\u2019<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy visited Washington amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and was expected to sign a minerals agreement that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine\u2019s minerals in exchange for support the U.S. has provided the country since Russia\u2019s invasion in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But after the tense exchange in the Oval Office, Trump announced a halt to peace negotiations and said that Zelenskyy could return to the White House when he was \u2018ready for Peace.\u2019 Additionally, Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the minerals deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I 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,\u2019 Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday. \u2018I don\u2019t 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.\u2019<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy also followed up with a social media post on X expressing gratitude to the U.S. for its support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,\u2019 Zelenskyy said. \u2018Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.\u2019<\/p>\n
The exchange prompted mixed reactions from those on Capitol Hill. Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said Zelenskyy should resign, while Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that \u2018Trump and Vance are doing Putin\u2019s dirty work.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Associated Press and Fox News\u2019 Emma Colton contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump and his administration\u2019s foreign policy agenda Friday during a tense exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy \u2014 inserting himself into a spotlight rarely seen by vice presidents.\u00a0 Trump and Vance sparred in the Oval Office Friday with Zelenskyy amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine \u2014 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":36961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}