More details are emerging about the aftermath of the Oval Office blow-up that saw Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky unceremoniously booted out of the White House and his lunch served to White House staffers. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not President Trump is open to immediately reopening talks with Zelensky after a cooling-off period.
The answer, reportedly, is hell no.
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High-ranking White House officials confirmed to CBS News that President Trump is unwilling to talk to Zelensky at this point because of Zelensky’s disinterest in peace.
High-level Trump sources tell me the White House is now uncertain if they can get the Russians and Ukrainians to stop fighting because this episode with @ZelenskyyUa raised questions about whether he can move forward toward a peace deal. It also raises questions about whether US will pause aid to Ukraine. But Trump is NOT seeking regime change in Ukraine. No discussions about who in Ukraine might be a better leader than Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian officials have reached out this afternoon to senior White House officials desperate to get the deal back on track. But that will not happen today, I’m told. Trump is unwilling to talk to Zelenskyy further today.
When Rubio and Waltz went into the Roosevelt Room to ask Zelenskyy to leave, Rubio made it clear that any further engagements today would be counterproductive. Waltz told Zelenskyy he had made a tremendous mistake, and it was a grave disservice to Ukraine and to Americans, both.
No phone calls between Trump and Putin have been scheduled. But multiple European officials have called top Trump officials since Zelenskyy left asking how the minerals deal can be salvaged.
Trump fully intended to sign the minerals deal today. Two official binders were prepared — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Ukrainian counterpart and the two presidents were going to sit at a conference table in the East Room and then trumpet their success at podiums.
But there were suspicions before Zelenskyy arrived today that it might fall apart. Because the Trump admin had been pushing for weeks for a minerals deal signing at the ministerial level, and Ukraine had refused. Zelenskyy wanted security guarantees.
US officials thought negotiations would be much harder with **Putin** so today have been been in disbelief that it has been Zelenskyy who has been more difficult, making maximalist demands, sources told me.
Some more tidbits emerged, including a sharp rebuke at the idea that the Trump administration had set Zelensky up. To the contrary, the president is reported to have been committed to signing the minerals deal today, and everything seemed cordial until Zelensky lost it in Oval Office.
NEWS: When asked if the minerals deal is still on the table, multiple top Trump officials said: Not today.
None of this drama premeditated. Trump officials were incredulous that some media outlets suggested it might have been. The greeting with Trump and Zelenskyy was warm, with jokes and a guest book signing in the West Wing lobby. They went straight into the Oval and the vibe was positive. White House wanted this deal done today.
Trump believes that Zelenskyy missed out on a huge opportunity to have the US as a business partner, with US companies helping Ukraine monetize mineral resources such as gas, oil, aluminum, tritrium, gallium and others. Trump viewed it as the 1st step in in a progression towards peace.
France’s Macron, the UK’s Starmer, the sec general of NATO have all been talking to Trump and his team about troop presence in Ukraine, what the security guarantees would look like. But now US officials believe Zelenskyy has put his country in a terrible position, sources told me.
Instead of leaving with the US as a major business partner and all that that status would mean for Ukraine, Trump officials think Zelenskky left looking foolish, without reassuring Ukraine and without assuring American people they’ll get to recoup their hundreds of billions, the officials said.
Zelensky’s Friday night interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier all but confirmed President Trump’s suspicions to be true. There can be no peace right now because Zelensky seems determined to keep fighting and to draw the U.S. into the war.
With the president safely ensconced at Mar-a-Lago, likely with some relaxing golf on the agenda, it seems unlikely that Zelensky will be invited to talk anytime soon. The ball, it would seem, is now in Europe’s court.
