White House Press Secretary Says Trump Scolding Zelensky Was ‘Refreshing’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised President Donald Trump for dressing down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance spoke in front of reporters at the White House on Friday in what was a blasé meeting that turned wildly contentious. The Ukrainian president asked Vance how the U.S. could be sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted to abide by any peace deal. The vice president then accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful,” and both he and Trump scolded their guest. After the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Zelensky to leave the White House.
On Monday, Trump paused congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine, which has been receiving arms and other assistance from the U.S. since Russia invaded in February 2022. Trump has also called Zelensky a “dictator” and suggested the Ukrainian president be removed from office.
Leavitt appeared on Monday’s Hannity on Fox News, where she lauded Trump’s performance.
“President Zelensky, unfortunately, was ungrateful to the American taxpayer,” she said, omitting the fact that Zelensky has publicly thanked the U.S. at least 33 times. “And frankly, putting aside my job as President Trump’s spokeswoman, as an American citizen, it was incredibly profound to watch our president actually stand up for us, for the taxpaying American, law-abiding citizen who is sick and tired of seeing hundreds of billions of dollars go out the door every single year when we have real problems in our country here.”
Leavitt later claimed, “Unfortunately, President Zelensky is not in the mindset to negotiate peace. And I think, frankly, it was incredibly refreshing to watch the president and the vice president stand up for America and to have that be before the world to see.”
On Friday, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, offered similar praise for his boss.
“[T]his is one of the great moments in the history of American diplomacy,” he told Fox News.
Watch above via Fox News.
