Below is a reconstructed transcript of the White House Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, based on available reports from reputable sources dated February 28, 2025. This meeting, which took place amid discussions of a potential minerals deal and ceasefire negotiations with Russia, devolved into a heated exchange captured by media present in the room. Since no single, verbatim, unedited transcript is universally published in full across all sources as of the writing of this article, I’ve synthesized the dialogue from overlapping accounts (e.g., The Guardian, Forbes, CNN, NBC News, The New York Times, and others) to provide a comprehensive and accurate representation as of March 1, 2025. Where exact wording varies slightly, I’ve prioritized consistency with the most commonly reported phrasing and noted where crosstalk or inaudible sections occur.
Transcript: Oval Office Meeting, February 28, 2025
Participants:
- Donald Trump, U.S. President
- J.D. Vance, U.S. Vice President
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President
- Reporters (off-camera questions noted where relevant)
Setting: The meeting begins with Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy seated in the Oval Office, with reporters and cameras present. The discussion starts with a question about Trump’s alignment with both Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, quickly escalating into a contentious exchange.
[Start of Recorded Segment]
Reporter: "Mr. President, some say you’re too aligned with both President Zelenskyy and President Putin. How do you respond to that?"
Trump: "Well, if I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir, how are we doing on the deal?’ That doesn’t work that way. I’m not aligned with Putin. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I’m aligned with the world. I want to get this thing over with. You see the hatred he’s got for Putin. It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate."
Vance: "I will respond to this. So look, for four years in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing."
Zelenskyy: "Yes, okay. So he [Putin] occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of the East and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years—I’m not speaking about just Biden, but those times was President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump. And God bless, now President Trump will stop him. But in 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know that we had conversations with him—a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversations. And we signed with him—me, like you, president—in 2019. I signed with him, [French President Emmanuel] Macron, and [former German Chancellor Angela] Merkel. Yes, yes, but after that, he broke the ceasefire. He killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about? What do you mean?"
Vance: "I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict."
Zelenskyy: "Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see what problems we have? Come once."
Vance: "I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems bringing people into your military? And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?"
Zelenskyy: "A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future. God bless—"
Trump [interrupting]: "You don’t know that. You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel."
Zelenskyy: "I’m not telling you. I am answering on these questions—"
Trump: "Because you’re in no position to dictate that. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good. We’re going to feel very good and very strong. You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position, and he [Vance] happens to be right about it."
Zelenskyy: "We are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone, and we are thankful. I said thanks in this cabinet—"
Trump [interrupting]: "You haven’t been alone. We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. Your men are brave, but they had our military. If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks."
Zelenskyy: "In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days."
Trump: "Maybe less. No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble."
Zelenskyy: "I know. I know."
Trump: "You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us."
Vance: "Just say thank you."
Zelenskyy: "I said thank you. I said it a lot of times. I say thank you to the American people."
Vance: "No, in this entire meeting, have you said thank you? You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country."
Zelenskyy: "Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war—"
Trump [interrupting]: "He’s not speaking loudly. He’s not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble."
Zelenskyy: "I know—"
Trump: "You’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing. You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there. Your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. Listen, you’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. And then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire. I want to go and I want this.’ You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country—this country—that’s backed you, far more than a lot of people said they should have."
Vance: "Accept that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong."
Trump: "But you see, I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful. All right, I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television. I will say that."
[End of Recorded Segment]
Notes on the Transcript
- Sources: This transcript compiles quotes from The Guardian (Web ID: 0), Forbes (Web IDs: 3, 9), CNN (Web IDs: 7, 16), NBC News (Web IDs: 8, 10), The New York Times (Web ID: 6), PBS News (Web ID: 13), and others, ensuring fidelity to reported dialogue. Minor variations (e.g., “very hard thing” vs. “damn good thing”) were harmonized for clarity.
- Edits: Some sources note crosstalk or inaudible parts (e.g., Zelenskyy’s “I said thanks in this cabinet, [inaudible]”). I’ve omitted speculative fillings and kept verifiable text.
- Context: The meeting ended abruptly, with Zelenskyy leaving the White House and a planned press conference canceled. No minerals deal was signed, per Globalnews.ca (Web ID: 4) and CBS News (Web ID: 15).
- Accuracy: Trump’s claim of “$350 billion” in aid exaggerates actual figures—U.S. aid to Ukraine since 2022 is closer to $119 billion (Kiel Institute, 2025 estimates)—but is retained as spoken.
This transcript reflects the raw, fractious tone reported across outlets, capturing Trump and Vance’s frustration with Zelenskyy’s perceived ingratitude and Zelenskyy’s defense of Ukraine’s stance.
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