National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Volodymyr Zelensky's team was "practically in tears" following a tense exchange with Trump in the Oval Office.
www.mediaite.com
President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News on Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team was “practically in tears” following a tense exchange with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office.
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Waltz denied accusations from critics that the meeting was an “ambush” of Zelensky. The national security advisor and Secretary of State
Marco Rubio both asked Zelensky to leave the White House after the meeting, according to Waltz.
“Any further engagement would only go backwards,” Waltz recalled telling Zelensky on Friday.
Waltz told Hurt a lunch and a signing of a “critical minerals deal” was planned for the day, but did not move forward. Waltz accused Zelensky of doing his country a “disservice” and insulting the White House. The national security advisor claimed Zelensky’s advisor and ambassador were “practically in tears” after the meeting.
A take on what is really going on I have read:
Zelensky pulled a bait and switch. He came to the White House not to sign the mineral deal, but to make a power play, a political play.
Ask yourself what's the crux here...the bottom line. The mineral deal did not have any security guarantee beyond the economic implications. Yet the deal was finalized to the point the documents were reviewed and delivered by the Ukrainian government. Zelensky pushed to come to Washington to sign it.
However, that was never his intention. He wanted to come to Washington, get before the camera's on the world stage from the Oval Office and push his demand for a security guarantee and argue before the world's press on the fly. He did not act in good faith. Does anyone think he told his team what he was going to do before he did it?
