THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tempers flare before Zelensky abruptly departs the White House without signing a minerals deal.
The U.S. relationship with Ukraine erupted in a storm of acrimony on Friday as President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in an explosive televised Oval Office showdown and abruptly cut short a visit meant to coordinate a plan for peace.
In a fiery public confrontation unlike any seen between an American president and foreign leader in modern times, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in its war with Russia, and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictated.
...
The spectacle underlined how radically Mr. Trump has reoriented American foreign policy in less than six weeks back in office, all but switching sides in the war in Europe as he expresses sympathy for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and antipathy for Mr. Zelensky.
Even as he shouted at the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office, the president spoke of Mr. Putin as if they were friends, saying that the Russian leader has “been through a lot with me” in enduring the “Russia hoax,” referring to the investigation of Mr. Putin’s clandestine efforts to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election.
The confrontation provided a major boost to Mr. Putin, who has long sought to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its most important patron, the United States. Russian officials seemed overjoyed on social media. Dmitri A. Medvedev, a top Putin lieutenant, praised Mr. Trump for “telling the truth” to Mr. Zelensky’s face. » | Peter Baker, White House reporter | Friday, February 28, 2025
