A minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine that was nearing the finish line quickly crumbled Friday following a fiery meeting in the Oval Office between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Surrounded by reporters in the White House, Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of not expressing enough gratitude for U.S. support to fend off Russia’s invasion during the past three years.
“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country,” Trump told Zelenskyy at one point. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out.”
Trump and Zelenskyy had reportedly intended to sign off on a minerals deal Friday that would provide a portion of revenue from Ukraine’s state-owned natural resources to the U.S. in exchange for U.S. support.
Tensions appeared to crescendo Friday after Trump repeatedly refused to answer questions from reporters about whether the deal would include security guarantees for Ukraine, arguing a cease-fire must come first. “I’m not worried about security, I’m worried about getting the deal done,” said Trump.
Zelenskyy pushed back, saying that a cease-fire deal “will not work without security guarantees.”
Within minutes of the chaotic meeting ending, a joint press conference with the two leaders was canceled, Zelenskyy left the White House in a black SUV and the administration confirmed the minerals deal remained unsigned.
It now remains unclear if a deal will survive or whether the president will engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the meeting a “missed opportunity” and questioned whether a deal can be reached under Zelenskyy during an interview with Fox News.
In the Oval Office meeting, Trump repeatedly cast himself as a deal-maker and a “mediator,” and said he had spoken to Putin a couple of days ago and that the Russian president “wants to make a deal and see it end.”
Zelenskyy insisted that he had thanked the American people but asserted that Russia is an aggressor and Putin a “killer” who had committed atrocities and invaded the country.
At one point, Vance applauded Trump for supporting Ukraine even after Zelenskyy traveled to Pennsylvania in October alongside Democrats before the presidential election, where he visited an ammunition plant in Scranton, former President Joe Biden’s hometown. He also asked if Zelenskyy had thanked the president.
“I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told Zelenskyy. “Accept that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in front of the American media when you’re wrong.”
Furious Democrats shot back online after the meeting.
“Answer to Vance: Zelenskyy has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly. And our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe. Shame on you,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota wrote on X.
Deal derailed
At the outset of the meeting, both leaders appeared headed toward signing the agreement, but Zelenskyy repeatedly said he wanted to further discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump maintained it was unclear just how much revenue the U.S. would net from development of the country’s raw natural resources but insisted that Ukraine’s minerals would help support American technology, AI and the military.
“As you know, our country doesn’t have a lot of raw earth,” said Trump. “What we do have is protected from the environmentalists … but it can be unprotected.”
Experts have pointed out that tapping into Ukraine’s rare earth elements and critical minerals will be difficult, costly and face challenges — from a lack of infrastructure wiped out during the war to ongoing conflict.
Mere hours earlier, Zelenskyy posted photos of himself with smiling, bipartisan members of Congress.
“An important visit to the United States,” Zelenskyy wrote. “In Washington, I met with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate” to discuss “continued military assistance for Ukraine, relevant legislative initiatives, my meeting with President Trump, efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, our vision for ending the war, and the importance of robust security guarantees.
“We take pride in having strategic partners and friends like the United States,” he continued. “We are grateful for the unwavering bicameral and bipartisan support for Ukraine throughout all three years of Russia’s full-scale aggression.”
That goodwill appeared to dry up as Zelenskyy left the White House and Trump shot off a message on the social media platform Truth Social, arguing that the Ukrainian president wasn’t “ready for peace.”
“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,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”
Added Trump: “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
