Trump Spokeswoman Puts Zelensky on Blast as She’s Grilled About Oval Office Showdown on Fox News
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on her defense of President Donald Trump when grilled Sunday by Fox News host Howard Kurtz about the explosive Oval Office confrontation with Volodymyr Zelensky, calling the Ukrainian president “antagonistic” and “rude.”
Friday’s joint press event quickly turned sour as Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance openly argued and insulted one another over the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine — in a stunning showdown that unfolded on live TV.
During Sunday’s Media Buzz, Kurtz acknowledged Zelensky could be “irritating” but pointedly noted that “it also seemed like President Trump lost his temper.”
Leavitt pushed back hard, dismissing the idea outright: “I would disagree with that. I think what happened in the Oval Office, I was there, was unfortunately President Zelensky came in with a mindset not wanting to negotiate peace.”
She shifted blame to the Ukrainian leader: “President Zelensky was also antagonistic, and frankly, he was rude. He picked a fight with the Vice President of the United States. He repeatedly interrupted President Trump… After three years of funding this brutal war, [Americans] are sick and tired of footing the bill.”
Kurtz, sticking to his initial take, pushed back and even rationalized Zelensky’s issue with ongoing negotiations: “The president kicked him out without the expected agreement about rare minerals, and President Zelensky kept saying he needed security agreements, security because Vladimir Putin had a long history of breaking agreements, so wasn’t that a reasonable point for him to make?”
“Well, that’s not what this meeting was about,” Leavitt shot back. “And President Zelensky was told that ahead of time… This meeting was about signing an economic partnership between the United States of America and Ukraine.”
When Kurtz interjected — “His country’s at war!” — Leavitt pivoted, arguing Trump is still actively pursuing peace.
“Yeah, I would just say a ceasefire might leave all the Russian land gains intact,” Kurtz replied, before adding: “I’ve never seen anything like it, would have happened behind closed doors. So why hold the meeting in front of the cameras?”
Leavitt replied: “Because President Trump is the most transparent president in history and it was great for the cameras to be in there because the American people and the world were able to see what the president and his team has seen behind the scenes in negotiating with President Zelensky’s team.”
Watch above via Fox News.
