U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed previous remarks in which he reportedly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator”, suggesting he does not recall making such a statement.
During an exchange with BBC political editor Chris Mason, Trump was asked whether he still believed Zelensky was a dictator. He responded:
“Did I say that? I can’t believe I would say that.”
The remarks come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Trump in the White House, a day before Zelensky himself arrives in Washington to finalise a strategic agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources with the U.S.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, Trump confirmed the upcoming meeting with Zelensky, speaking on the importance of rare earth minerals for America’s economy and security.
“President Zelensky is coming to see me on Friday morning,” Trump said. “And we’re going to be signing really a very important agreement for both sides because it’s really going to get us into that country, working there.”
He described the agreement as a “backstop”, though did not elaborate on its exact provisions.
Ukraine is home to significant reserves of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for defence, energy, and technology sectors. The agreement is likely to strengthen economic ties between Kyiv and Washington, particularly amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
While Trump’s stance on Ukraine has drawn scrutiny, the deal suggests a pragmatic approach to U.S.-Ukraine relations, focusing on economic cooperation and resource security.
With Starmer’s visit preceding Zelensky’s, the British Prime Minister’s engagement with Trump may indicate closer coordination between allies on security and economic issues related to Ukraine.
The UK has been a strong backer of Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and Starmer’s discussions in Washington are expected to cover continued Western support.
Trump, Vance and Zelensky just about had a fist fight in the Oval Office. All the hard work by the British government and three think skinned TV celebrities blow it up in minutes.
I think that is very unfair on Zelensky putting him in the same category as those two clowns.
I agree, it’s shitty, but unfortunately we live in a new world. Zelensky had to sit there and say nothing, this was all set up so US support could continue. Trump walked back some comments and a meaningless piece of paper was to be signed to satisfy the MAGA base. Zelenskyy blew it and the Ukrainian people will suffer.
It’s shitty and it should not be like this but that’s it.
Trump got everything he wanted out that meeting and I really don’t think it was set up that way.
Do nothing.. except sign a trillion of their valuable minerals over to a draft dodger but sure..
Yes, that’s its, sign a piece of paper so a draft dodger can’t make a bunch of hicks who have never seen the ocean feel like they got something back for doing something good.
Churchill had to do much the same.
Act like America was saving the world by loaning money to the only country that was actually saving the world.
Zelenskyy failed in this task and the only people that will suffer are Ukrainian.
How did Zelensky ‘blow it’? I did not pick up that he said anything disrespectful. Trump and Vance were disrespectful to Zelensky, that’s for sure.
That’s one take on it!trump and Vance are a pair of absolute tossers!
Yes I agree 100% but they are also the two most powerful men in the world.
Sorry but I don’t agree..Zelensky a second language managed to try and explain in a reasonable way what was incorrect while Vance literally shouted at him and trump got in clearly preplanned specific statements for the American audience..they utterly disrespected a county fighting for survival and their war dead, it was one of the most disgusting bits of politics I have ever seen.
And not a word of criticism for the wanker who actually started this war,if trump is so friendly with pootin all he has to do is phone him and tell HIM to stop that will stop the casualties!
Totally. All the death and destruction in Ukraine that Putin and his cohort are responsible for. And all this talk about “disrespecting the White House”, having no cards”, “not being thankful”, how about them showing respect for Ukraine and “its” president, its sovereign boarders and its people, alive, dead and injured and acknowledge the ongoing destruction! Maybe there’s another Trump real-estate type plan for Ukraine being planned. Russia obviously wants its influence on the world stage, access to the economic system and financial exchange and increase its “waterfront” on the Azov, Black, Baltic and Mediterranean seas which it is simultaneously… Read more »
It’s just shocking. They have no interest other than their own ego and profile. No class, no diplomacy, no idea. How far the US has fallen.
Agreed. I thought it would be bad with Trump. But this last month has been an utter S@it show.
The White House meeting was a total car crash. Zelensky looked tired, but should have known better than loosing his cool like that because it will only be counter productive… it’s clear that Trump and Vance hate him… and he doesn’t much like them. There’s more bad news… Europe is split on providing further support for Ukraine. Perhaps the best we can hope for right now is a ceasefire? It’s obvious that the US doesn’t care about Ukraine. It wants to normalise relations with Russia. Not a great day for Ukraine supporters.
People are dying and I’m afraid Trump is correct however unpalatable it was put. It is insane to say we can have US or European military in Ukraine without WW3. Before everyone starts I’m not a Putin apologist and I do Zelensky as a man and the brave Ukrainians. However, we have to realize that Ukraine is a buffer state between Russia and Europe. Our attention should be supporting the best peace deal with can get even if this means some of Ukraine is annexed. European and UK attention should then go to expanding the military. Clearly the UK needs… Read more »
Matthew..re retirement at 75..sorry but that’s not workable apart for a few very lucky professionals who have essentially low manual effort roles and have plenty of time for decision making…you cannot have a 75 year old acute nurse..I assure you its pretty marginal at 55..take it from an old nurse..you don’t want a ward or ED full of old nurses…most people are not capable of doing most jobs at 75..infact 40% of men are dead before they even get to 75 and only able to slowly rot in a box as a job. Of the 60% that are alive and… Read more »
You do realise that pootin hasNOT respected ANY peace deal or ceasefire concerning Ukraine! Zelenskyy was trying to explain that to Vance but it was him being disrespectful in the Oval Office! Utter bollocks
My mates who died before even 65 will really thank you for pulling up the retirement ladder. One served in both the RN(On the CV) Ark Royal) & in the paras after that. Just over a year before he cpuld retire on his well earned pensions & the tears of hard life took him before any benefit of old age security came along. We are not “all living longer”, many of those who are poorer or had a life of hard graft are lucky if theu reach the rising retirement age. Funny how the prosperous & rich find it so… Read more »
It was Trump and Vance that lost their cool.
Or was the whole thing a set up… a deliberate trap for Zelensky?
Vance blew that up on purpose – I wonder why!
Yes, trolling him for being ‘disrespectful’ and not ‘thanking’ the US for providing support, which Zelensky has done on multiple occasions. Much of it seems politically motivated by Democrat vs MAGA tribalism.
I think this is way beyond a Dem v MAGA thing (although I respect that you referred to them as MAGA rather than Republicans)
It’s a new era, that’s for sure. It will be bad for Europe. I’m not sure if Trump will reinvigorate US power, which he might, or accelerate its decline.
US power is gone, China is outmatching them on every metrics of manufacturing now. There only hope was Allie’s and trump blew that to pieces.
It’s the UK’s role in the world to pick up the pieces and start again. Same as 1703, 1815, 1918 and 1940.
I think it’s a bit early to say that. The US is still incredibly powerful economically and militarily. Also China has huge problems like collapsing demographics, and economic plateau. Twenty years from now the Chinese will have the world’s largest Navy that needs replacing. The desire for power comes at a huge price. As troubling as it seems I think Trump wants to dump Europe for Russia.
Completely agree. ‘ Don’t be disrespectful to the manchild and kiss the ring, then maybe we won’t split Ukraine with Russia, but, no promises that we won’t do that even with a mineral deal’.
MAGA republicans deliberately help up desperately needed aid not long ago, costing more UKR blood & territory. Putin & Trump-Two peas in a pod. Despicable.
Exactly. How many wake up calls does Europe need?
Just to add… our main problem IS Putin… And we are in an alliance with people who think Putin is wonderful. How does HMG square that?
held up, not help up. Doh, finally the edit button returns & I spot my mistake too late to correct.
Indeed TWM, who’d have thought that decades of cutting forces to way below safe peacetime levels could encourage brutal dictators.
Because he is a Peter Tiel stooge and a Nazi sympathiser. He tried the same with Kier Starmer and got put back in his box. Zelenskyy fucked up and took the bate, walked into the trap laid for him by Vance and other Kremlin sympathisers.
Oh please. Keith didn’t contribute at all. Actually, no, he probably made it worse by sucking up to Trump so much, inflating his ego even more.
Zelenskyy wasn’t being thin-skinned either. He should have tread on eggshells due to the egos and thin skins of Trump and Vance, but they clearly went in spoiling for a fight and spouted Kremlin lines.
I agree, Keith did nothing, in fact I don’t think Keith was even in the room.
Bet in the upcoming tantrum he’s about to have after that meeting he will be calling him a dictator again.
The Yanks will pull the plug on funding now for sure, whether Ukraine will fight on is the question that remains
European countries will step up…
We have given more funding than the US
and also the ordinary fundraising people give millions in civilian and direct military help
We must tell the US to sod off
I agree that the UK and EU need to persevere, irrespective of the US attempts to negotiate with Putin.
The USA is the largest single contributor, and has a bigger millitary instustrial capacity.
Was going to be a lot easier with the US onboard though. The British government did everything required to bring the US back to the fold, hold the western world together against the darkness and Zelenskyy blew it because he is to thin skinned to ignore a few jibes from a nuance like JD Vance.
Ukraine will fight on for sure, they will just be looking for us to shoulder more of the Burden, as Ben Wallace had to tell Zelenskyy, we are not Amazon.
Forget a US backstop, that idea is history. Europe will have to decide whether it is willing and able to step up. Ukraine desperately needs us to.
Trump made it clear for all to see that he is the opposite of an “Honest broker” in this peace deal. He doesn’t seenm to care who runs UKR, so long as he gets his cut.
What I think we all just saw may go down in history as one of the most shameful events in US affairs. I just saw two power mad individuals essentially ambushing the president of a democracy fighting for its life, so they could get soundbites for a domestic audience…it is literally something out of the authoritarian play book.. what is so worrying is the difference between the starmer visit and the Zelensky visit…now unless we think Starmer is some sort of psychic mind controlling genius the only difference was in power dynamics..we as a nation are not beholden to the… Read more »
Some cordiality with Starmer utter contempt for zelensky. Awful
We were very much beholden to the USA in 1940; I would imagine any British PM would get the same treatment from Trump and Vance should the UK find itself in a similar predicament.
The USA with these two incharge is not a reliable partner
Yea imagine Winston Churchill having to go to trump asking for lend- lease.
How were we beholden to the USA in 1940? We were fighting Hitler alone.
I just think they baited him deliberately, they had a game plan and that’s pretty well been confirmed by Lindsey Graham that he advised Zielenski in advance to not rise to the bait. How did he know unless it was pre planned.🤷🏼♂️ The reason is either to get all the resources and / or force Zielenskl to resign, the latter is probably one of Putins pre conditions for a ceasefire, in which case he gets his way. I am willing to bet that a message will be sent to the Ukrainian people via social media, he has to go and… Read more »
Putin won’t raise the stakes to a Nuclear or Chem/Bio attack, he needs to give his asset Trump the appearence of credibility that peace can be achieved
Yes that was an orchestrated trap to publicly and to the world utterly destroyed him. It was profoundly disgusting and has I suspect driven a final nail in US European relations..we will just have to see what the fall out looks like…but in reality any peace organised by the US is essentially probably not going to be acceptable to the Europeans and Ukrainians…In reality Europe is going to have to throw everything it can to keep Ukraine fighting..to try and break Russian will, if Putin in mad enough to use nuclear weapons then essentially Ukraine is lost and we are… Read more »
How much has trump gone along with Putin wanting to install a Russian puppet in Ukraine? Trump obviously wants Zelensky removed.
You’re right, Zelenskyy was warned, all he had to do is sit there and say nothing for 5 minutes.
No leader whose country is being destroyed will say nothing, especially when attacked so flagrantly.
I didn’t see that Zelensky was attacking Trump, Vance or the USA.
I have just watched the meeting on BBC website, never seen anything like it, what planet are these clowns on?? Continuously asking for him to say thank you is ridiculous and not allowing him to answer and talking over him is just shocking, I would like to see them do the same to Putin, they wouldn’t tho cuz there big brass balls would soon shrink if they actually come across some one they couldn’t bully. He is a president asking another for help after an unjustified attack from a country ruled by a tyrant , how can Trump think he… Read more »
Indeed.The last times that I was shocked at an international event was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982.
Tonight was truly shocking. WW3 in the Oval Office!
It’s got a whole lot worse in front of cameras
What ive just witnessed on the various channels and the reaction twitter by Ukrainians whom I fundraise for and with…
Absolutely disgusting…
Close to a brawl
No wonder Zelensky walked out ….
I warned against Zelensky going to the US
What the hell are we doing associating with Trump and MAGA
Because in geopoliticals you dance with whichever devil supports your national interest..because national interest is all that matters…security and strength are all that matter, all that have ever matters..we forgot this in the madness that was “the end of history” now we are being reminded..lucky we are still strong and can rebuild our strength…trump has just shown what it means to be weak. Its why I how am a complete bleeding heart soggy liberal, think we should be friends with Saudi, why I think we should be trading and making profit from china even though I know they are frantic… Read more »
Yes, sad but unfortunately this is the world we live in now. Fortunately the UK is well positioned for such a world, possibly the best positioned country in the world
Everyone that spent the last 50 years free riding in the rules based order is going to get a nasty shock.
it was civil at first, then Vance threw a match and it all went to pot.
Vance is despicable and trying to score points in front of the camera is going to cost a lot of lives
very sad day
It was all ideology and pretty talk over any kind of actual substance or facts from Vance. Grovelling to Trump about his genius diplomacy, then playing to the gallery and shouting accusations of disrespect at Zelensky.Trump seized the opportunity.
Grotesque.
scary to think Vance could be POTUS in 2028
Vance wanted to look tough in front of his boss.
Once you understand that Trump is compromised, nothing is shocking. Israel warned the US in 1994 that Russia had damaging stuff on him.
I’m begining to think Putin doesn’t need any dirt on Trump. Trump is simply that low & nasty that he loves the way Putin does buisiness.
Shameful. Utterly shameful. I just watched this and it disgusted me seeing Pres Zelensky being bullied the way he was by those two idiots. I really felt for him.
Vance should have kept his trap shut. He knows nothing of the war, other than what he’s seen on CNN.
I’ve never seen a more pitiful display than what trump and his sidekick did at the press conference. Completely shocked at how they tried shaking down a leader resisting an invading army. And for what? For minerals..
I agree, it was totally unprofessional and for my money showed the ‘Clown’ side of Trump. He’s out for a peace prize award, and naff all else. Vance… how or why he ever got into politics… probably for similar reason to Trump.
Screw the Yanks. They’re now firmly in the axis of evil. They can feck off out of the UK. We wouldn’t station Russian squadrons here. The US could not possibly be relied upon to do anything even remotely in line with our values or interest. So absolutely no point them being here. Europe really really needs to get itself together and make ourselves equal to the Sovs and Yanks militarily and economically. That display by orange man and his minions was akin to watching the Sopranos. And are we really still going to give that senile orange nonce a state… Read more »
I think a state visit would allow British people to show what they think of Trump. Remember the hostile reception given to Chinese leader jiang in 1999.
This aged well…
Utterly disgraceful behaviour from Trump and Vance, more appropriate to an episode of the Apprentice USA than a serious diplomatic discussion. Suggesting Zelensky is risking ww3 by resisting an attack by the murderous regime in Moscow is so far from reality that not even POTUS and his odious VP can really believe it – unless they are even more ignorant of post war history than seems possible. The immediate danger to Ukraine is obvious. The bigger risk is of emboldening Putin to launch further ” special operations” perhaps against a NATO member. That really could trigger ww3. AreTrump and Vance… Read more »
No real surprise.
Trumps a Gemeni with a Leo ascendant. Leo’s love flattery.
Vance is a Leo with a Leo ascendant. Incendiary.
Zelwnski is an Aquarius.
Total opposite signs, equals a clash.
Starmer meanwhile went there and brown nosed nicely, typical of a Virgo with a Libra Moon. Good at diplomacy.
Aquarians are not known for diplomacy.
This analysis courtesy of my astrological loving wife.
Me….Trump and Vance behaved appallingly.
Vance especially absolutely screams male insecurity. Him , Trump and Musk are the very opposites of an alpha male. Thin skinned snowflakes describes them accurately.
I dislike him a lot more than Trump.
Two Presidents should be able to have space to speak, at this level it’s imperative.
Even enemies can show respect.
That he kept interrupting Zelenski telling him he’d not said thank you is like a bully schoolteacher talking down to a child.
Another snippet from the wife, Zelenski has a Leo Moon, no wonder the Oval office exploded there were 3 Leo’s in there, and Aquarians are not known for backing down either!
Vance disgraced himself in that meeting, such small man energy. As for Trump, what else can you expect from a pig but grunts.
Very insightful from Mr and Mrs Mandelli, please keep it up. 👍
I was never interested in the crap you read in paper with the horoscopes.
But my wife’s knowledge of real Astrology always inpresses me. The sign always seems to fit the character of the individual.
This was toxic mix waiting to explode.
Vance is really not a man though, he is a gimp, there to make trump and Peter tiel feel more manly.
If Trump was a medieval king Vance would be the jester.
But what was Zelenskyy doing falling for the Jesters barbs.
He should never have gone.
Trump and Vance are utter pieces of s@%#t….to think Churchill is watching over them.
What I hope for now, is that Europe tells the US ‘get back in your box, dry up, and blow away’. Europe then needs to take the inactive, go for the deal on the minerals, and freeze the US out completely.
Trump is playing with fire in his dealings with Putin, and is too arrogant to see it. Bye US… go and withdraw behind your own borders.
UKR has suffered & lost too much to be bullied into giving away precious resources it needs to rebuild the country after Putins vile war. If there was any justice Russia should be paying reperations.
The utter stupidity of the whole thing is IF Zelenskyy was to sign the deal trump would be all pally again!
I’m no fan of Trump but to set the stage; Zelensky has been called out publicly by the likes of Ben Wallace over attitude and lack of gratitude. There were calls for elections to be resumed from European leaders before Trump got back in. There’s been serious disagreement with the likes of Poland over Zelensky’s trade demands. He obviously got a lot of leeway as a wartime leader facing seemingly impossible odds. 3 years on the fatigue sets in… Zelensky is stuck believing his own BS/image, an image crafted for him by the west, that of the new Churchill. Ukraine… Read more »
Trump fawns over a real psycopathic, warmongering, dictator Putin, but treats a heroic, once in a generation, fighter for democracy & freedom with some real backbone like some 3rd year kid he can slap around & steal his dinner money. Seems like Trump & Vance knew what they were doing, possibly enough to fool most of MAGA Trumpists, but they’ve blown their legs off as leaders of the free world in the process. Putin will say lovely things about Trump, no doubt. Trump couldn’t even succeed in stealing an election. More interested in pay back for/demonising everything Biden did for… Read more »
Found it very sad to watch to be honest. But no doubt Putin enjoyed it .
Russian propaganda won big today.
That $300b in orc assets needs unlocking tomorrow and get it working supplying Ukraine!
That will give Zelenskyy some ammo to tell trump to swivel! It’s really time for Europe to step up now and get serious!
A serious security breach as two obvious Russian agents attacked Ukrainian President Zelensky at The White House.