Broadcast and cable networks went to special reports on Monday as Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to journalists in the Oval Office in advance of talks of a peace deal to settle Ukraine‘s war with Russia.
“We’re going to have a lasting peace,” Trump said. “I hope it is going to be immediately. I hope it doesn’t have to go on, and I think people, the whole world is going to be happy when that’s announced.”
It was a much different environment than Zelensky faced earlier this year in the Oval Office, as he was scolded by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other members of the administration, in a meeting that ended abruptly before a planned press conference.
This time around, Zelensky even got an apology from Brian Glenn, correspondent for Trump-supporting outlet Real America’s Voice, who in February had pointedly asked the Ukrainian leader in the previously Oval Office meeting why he wasn’t wearing a suit. This time, Zelensky was in a suit, and playfully noted that Glenn was wearing the same suit as he did in their previous encounter.
Trump later on Monday will meet with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also are gathered at the White House. The White House summit was announced shortly after Trump met on Friday with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, with a red carpet laid out for the Russian leader. Figures like John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser in his first term, said that the scene ended up a victory for Putin, as the president backed away from demands for a cease fire in a step toward negotiations.
In the Oval Office, Trump did not rule out U.S. troop involvement as part of security guarantees for Ukraine, telling reporters, “We’ll let you know that later today. We’re meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also, and we’ll be talking about that. They’ll all be involved, but there will be a lot of help when it comes to security.”
Trump also sidestepped a question on who was the aggressor in the war, instead pinning the blame on his predecessor, Joe Biden. Over the weekend, Trump posted a letter that First Lady Melania Trump wrote to Putin, calling for him to end the war because of the children. “Why did the first lady feel that letter was necessary? Was it because she believed that Mr. Putin is the aggressor in the war?”
“She loves her son. She loves children, and she hates to see something like this happening, and that goes for other wars too,” Trump said. “…It was a beautiful letter. It was very well received by him.”
Trump said that he planned to speak to Putin by phone later on Monday, after meetings with Zelensky and the European leaders. The president has raised the prospect of a tri-lateral summit as the next step.
