Trump adviser describes how Zelensky was kicked out of White House
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has revealed how Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his delegation reacted to being expelled from the White House following a heated confrontation with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
The altercation occurred during a meeting on Friday where the leaders had intended to finalize a minerals agreement between the United States and Ukraine. The discussion deteriorated when Zelensky dug in his heels in and insisted that Trump should be supporting Kiev more rather than staying neutral in an attempt to mediate a deal with Moscow.
Trump accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for American support and unwilling to make necessary concessions to end the conflict, while J.D. Vance criticized him for his lack of diplomacy.
In an interview with Breitbart News on Saturday, Mike Waltz said that “the dealmaker-in-chief knows when to walk away from a bad deal or a bad negotiation,” and recounted how he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered Trump’s sentiments to Zelensky’s team.
“They were stunned. I don’t know how they thought that could move forward after that kind of very public episode with the entire world watching,” Waltz recalled. “It was really his team – and as you saw from his ambassador, she just put her head in her hands in the middle of the Oval Office – that knew the gravity of what had just happened.”
"We made it clear that the negotiation, which could have been a fantastic day for them and the country was over and that it was time to go." @MikeWaltz47 on his message to the Ukrainian delegation after the @realDonaldTrump - @ZelenskyyUa White House Blow-Up via @BreitbartNews… pic.twitter.com/FvHBQJKrP2
— SiriusXM Patriot (@SiriusXMPatriot) March 1, 2025
An unnamed member of the White House staff had said earlier that Trump had basically “kicked out” Zelensky and claimed that the Ukrainian delegation was “begging to reset,” but Rubio and Waltz insisted they leave the White House grounds immediately, according to Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich.
Waltz added that the Ukrainian team was informed that “American patience had run out,” describing the sentiment as: “How do you come and insult someone when you’re practically begging them for money and assistance?”
“So we made that clear in no uncertain terms. We made it clear that the negotiation, which could have been a fantastic day for them and the country, was over, and that it was time to go,” Waltz said.
In the meantime, Rubio slammed Zelensky for “wasting” everyone’s time with his attitude and questioned his true intentions regarding the conflict with Russia. In an interview with CNN, Rubio said Zelensky “should apologize” for turning the high-level meeting into a “fiasco.”
Shortly after the meeting, Zelensky admitted it did not go well but signaled that he did not plan to apologize to the US leader. In an interview on Fox News, he claimed “we have to be very open and very honest” in bilateral interactions. He blamed some of his statements on being lost in translation but ultimately said he was “unsure” that he did “anything bad” to offend the American people.
