Topline
Former President Donald Trump said during a Thursday press conference he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at Trump Tower in New York City, reportedly the first meeting between the two since Trump left office and the war in Ukraine broke out, with the meeting coming after a series of verbal jabs between them throughout the week.
The meeting will be held at Trump Tower. (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Facts
The meeting will take place around 9:45 a.m. EDT, according to Trump, who told reporters he will be able to strike a deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky “quite quickly” to end the war in Ukraine, though he refused to provide details on what the compromise would look like.
Trump and Zelensky’s relationship appears rocky ahead of the meeting, as the two have traded barbs recently that included a criticism from Zelensky, who recently told The New Yorker, “Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows.”
A reporter asked Trump about Zelensky’s comment, to which the former president joked that he should “immediately cancel” the upcoming meeting before insisting Zelensky knows he understands how to end the war.
The meeting will be hosted just a few days after Trump expressed doubt about Ukraine’s chances of winning the war and called Zelensky “the greatest salesman on Earth,” referring to the tens of billions of dollars in aid the U.S. has provided Ukraine since 2022.
Trump said the war between Ukraine and Russia “never would have happened” if he were president, repeating a claim he has made several times when asked about the subject.
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Tangent
Zelensky received the ire of Republicans who recently criticized him for visiting a Scranton, Pennsylvania, artillery manufacturing plant and claimed his visit was “a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats.”
Key Background
Trump and Zelensky’s bumpy relationship may partially be rooted in the former president’s comments about ending the Ukraine-Russia war, as opposed to pledging his support for a Ukrainian victory, though Trump’s relationship with the Ukrainian president dates back years, with a controversial 2019 phone call between the two, in which Trump urged Zelensky to investigate then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden, serving as a focal point for a Democratic impeachment inquiry into Trump. The former president was later impeached by the House, before being acquitted in a Senate trial. Trump has not provided details about his plan to end the war, which has carried on for more than two years. Zelensky met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday following Biden’s pledge to provide an additional $8 billion in aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Further Reading
Trump Trashes Zelensky As ‘Greatest Salesman On Earth’ As He Visits U.S. (Forbes)
Republicans Lash Out At Zelensky Over Visit To Pennsylvania (Forbes)
