As soon as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emerged out of his motorcade at the West Wing, President Donald Trump immediately took a dig at his clothes.
Outfitted in a black sweatshirt featuring an embroidered Ukrainian trident, black slacks and boots, he was substantially underdressed in comparison to Trump, who was wearing a suit and tie.
“You’re all dressed up today,” Trump said sarcastically.
It all quickly went downhill from there.
After a heated exchange in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy would later depart without signing an “economic partnership” deal he had travelled 5,000 miles to seal.
Zelenskyy, whose country was invaded by Russia three years ago, has been a known casual dresser.“You’re all dressed up today,” Trump said sarcastically.He often favors olive green crewnecks with cargo pants and combat boots, a signal to the world that his country is still at war.
In December, he wore a similar outfit for the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris as well as for his meeting with then President-elect Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace.
During his tête-à-tête with Trump in the Oval Office, Brian Glenn, White House correspondent for the pro-Trump network Real America’s Voice, asked Zelenskyy why he was not wearing a suit while visiting the “highest level” office in the country.“Why don’t you wear a suit?,” he said. “A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the office.”
Zelenskyy said he’ll “wear the costume after the war is finished.” Kostium is the Ukrainian word for suit.
Then he told the reporter: “Maybe I’ll wear something like yours or something better,” he said, eliciting laughter. “Maybe something cheaper.”
A correspondent for TASS, a Russian state media organization, was also a part of the ‘pool’ of reporters given access to the Oval Office on Friday to cover the sit down – even as the AP and Reuters were barred from the high-level meeting.
“TASS was not on the approved list of media for today’s pool,” a White House official told CNN in a statement. “As soon as it came to the attention of press office staff that he was in the Oval, he was escorted out by the Press Secretary.”The White House recently announced that it will now control media access to the president, rather than the decades old tradition of a coalition of news agencies determining who gets to cover the president.
‘You don’t have the cards right now’
Minutes later, the meeting devolved into a shouting match between Vice President JD Vance, Trump and Zelenskyy. The U.S. president and vice president accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for American support for Ukraine. The conversation became particularly charged when Trump accused the Ukrainian president of prolonging the war while being in a weak diplomatic position and using American resources.
“You don’t have the cards right now. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump said. “What you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country that’s backed you.”
Soon after, a planned lunch and a bilateral meeting was canceled and Zelenskyy was seen leaving the White House. A White House official told USA Today that Zelenskyy was asked to leave.
