Vance’s comments marked the moment Zelenskyy’s White House meeting took a tense turn. It’s the latest example of his role in a confrontational foreign-policy tag team with Trump. that Zelenskyy be more thankful and asserting that the Ukrainian leader was “gambling with World War III.”
It was, in the words of Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and State Department appointee during Trump’s first term, “a horrible day for the peacemakers.” His comments yielded a sharp rejoinder from Zelenskyy, steering an already tense discussion into an unexpected, full-blown, high-volume argument for the world to watch.
For the next seven minutes, Vance and Trump exchanged increasingly heated words with their visitor. Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful in the White House, of not being thankful enough for U.S. assistance and of embarking on a “propaganda tour.”
Zelenskyy pointedly questioned Vance’s authority on Ukraine, asking if he’d ever been to the country, prompting Vance to reply that he’d “watched and seen the stories.” Then Trump tagged in, coming to his vice president’s defense by demanding that Zelenskyy be more thankful and asserting that the Ukrainian leader was “gambling with World War III.”
It was, in the words of Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and State Department appointee during Trump’s first term, “a horrible day for the peacemakers.”
