By Joshua Arnold

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first meeting with President Donald Trump ended acrimoniously on Friday, after a meeting in the Oval Office exploded in a heated exchange, which was caught on video due to the unusual presence of television cameras. Less than three hours after Zelensky’s arrival, Trump sent him packing, stating on Truth Social, “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved. … He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

“The Trump-Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office started with statements from both leaders and then questions from the press,” reports Axios. “After around 40 minutes, a reporter asked Trump why he engaged with Russian President Vladimir Putin and distanced himself from Ukraine.” Trump responded that he had to show a balanced approach to get a deal, adding that Zelensky has “tremendous hatred” for Putin, a statement that made Zelensky visibly upset.

Vice President J.D. Vance, who was also present at the meeting, chimed in with the truism that diplomacy is the way to reach a peace deal. To this Zelensky responded, “What kind of diplomacy, J.D., are you talking about?” He described failed diplomacy since Russia’s 2014 invasion — similarly unprovoked — and the vast power’s repeated broken promises.

“At that point, the meeting devolved into a shouting match, with Vance accusing Zelensky of disrespect,” Axios continued. Trump jumped back into the discussion, dismissing Zelensky’s warnings of further Russian aggression by saying the beleaguered president was “in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”

Zelensky had come to Washington — the fourth foreign leader to visit Trump — to finalize a minerals deal, which would give the U.S. an economic interest in protecting the country from Russia aggression.

The minerals deal would establish a fund giving the U.S. government a financial interest in “deposits of minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractable materials” mined or drilled in Ukraine, according to a framework agreement signed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Tuesday.

The American and Ukrainian governments would share “joint ownership” of the Fund, with Ukraine contributing 50% of its income from natural resource assets developed in the future, while the U.S. would “maintain a long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.” The fund’s resources would “invest in projects in Ukraine and attract investments” from corporations.

However, Zelensky left Washington without signing the deal, which appears to be off the table. In fact, Zelensky left the White House without participating in a joint press conference initially scheduled for 1 p.m. Soon after the stormy meeting, Trump ejected him.

“I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think?” Trump told reporters waiting on the joint press conference that never happened. “This is gonna be great television, I will say that.”

Events on Friday contrasted sharply with the expectations for a deal Trump created 24 hours earlier. “We want to work with him, President Zelensky, and we will work with him. I think the president and I actually have had a very good relationship,” insisted Trump in a Thursday press conference. “I think we’re going to have a very good meeting tomorrow morning. We’re going to get along really well. We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Needless to say, this is not what happened.

Such a shocking reversal of events requires a good explanation, one that goes deeper than simply accusing Zelensky of disrespect. A long-term, multilateral treaty, not to mention the survival of a nation of roughly 40 million people, hung in the balance.

If it were merely a matter of flaring tempers, then nothing would stop the principals from merely cooling off for an hour before they reconvened and got back to business. Perhaps an intermediary could even convince Zelensky to offer an apology; politicians are infamously adept at wordsmithing apologies. But such a cool-down period and apology was not forthcoming.

Alternatively, perhaps tempers flared, but Trump was unwilling to work with Zelensky after the perceived slight. If so, the exchange did not play out to Trump’s credit. “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11). The leader of the world’s most powerful nation can afford to be magnanimous.

A third possibility is that the diplomatic incident was sought or manufactured — perhaps even stage-managed — by Trump. This would explain the unusual presence of TV cameras at an Oval Office meeting, his remark about this making for good television, and the thin pretext for the alleged disrespect — which was Zelensky’s comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a trustworthy negotiator. On this theory, Trump and Vance worked together to rile up Zelensky and took the first opportunity to goad him into an argument; Zelensky’s humiliation would both play well with Trump’s base and weaken Zelensky’s position, either forcing him from power or forcing him to come groveling back to Trump at a later date.

“Zelensky was treated to a scolding lecture about why his country … should capitulate. He was berated, and forced to defend himself in a non-native language, for his failure to express sufficient gratitude,” summarized National Review’s Noah Rothman.

Perhaps there are other explanations. Perhaps some of them even show Trump in a better light. Only a small group of people were in a position to observe first-hand what really happened, and to know the true reasons why the summit and mineral deal fell apart.

Regardless of the reasons, the one person who benefits most by today’s events in Washington is Vladimir Putin. One can almost imagine the predatory smile creep across his face when he learned the news. As for what will come of the diplomatic rift, it’s too soon to say.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.