March 1, 2025

A press conference at the White House, scheduled for Friday, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were set to sign the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, was canceled following a tense shouting match between the two inside the Oval Office earlier in the day.

Angry exchange in the Oval Office

What should have been a standard press pool spray before the high-stakes Trump-Zelenskyy meeting turned into a fireworks-filled confrontation, broadcast on TV, beginning with U.S. Vice President JD Vance's interjection. Vance, who was present in the room, demanded that the Ukrainian leader be thankful for Trump's efforts to resolve his country's three-year conflict with Russia.

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