Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for clashing with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a tense meeting at the White House on Friday. Speaking to the press, Graham stated that Zelensky should carefully consider his political future.
“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we could ever do business with Zelensky again,” Graham, 69, remarked after Trump canceled a planned press conference with Zelensky and instructed him to leave the White House. He added, “I think most Americans saw a guy that they would not want to go in business with, the way he handled the meeting,” referring to Zelensky’s behavior as “just over the top.” Graham expressed his pride in both President Trump and Vice President Vance, saying, “I have never been more proud of the president. I was very proud of JD Vance standing up for our country.” He also emphasized, “We want to be helpful.”
When asked about the possibility of Zelensky’s resignation, Graham responded: “He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.” On Thursday, after meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump had shared his expectation of a positive meeting with Zelensky. “We’re going to get along really well, OK? We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him,” Trump told reporters. Graham recounted that he had spoken with Zelensky that morning and advised him, “don’t take the bait. President Trump was in a very good mood last night.” He went on to criticize Zelensky, saying, “He was terrible at Munich, Zelensky, and I think he has made it almost impossible to sell to the American people that he’s a good investment.”
In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday afternoon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained that the meeting in the Oval Office was specifically arranged to show that there was a strong bond between the U.S. and Ukraine. “To show that we’re more intertwined,” Bessent stated, “that would be a symbol to the Ukrainian people, to Russian leadership and to the American people — and President Zelensky blew that up today.”
After being asked to leave the White House without even signing a joint investment deal with the U.S. regarding Ukraine’s rare-earth mineral resources, Zelensky issued a conciliatory statement on X. “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people,” he wrote. “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
Bessent also shared with Bloomberg that achieving an economic deal with a leader who does not seek peace would be extremely challenging. “It’s going to take a lot of repair,” Bessent remarked about the stalled investment deal. “You don’t do a negotiation with the president of the United States in public like this.” He added, “He chose to let things go into a downward spiral on worldwide television,” and revealed, “President Zelensky and I had an extended heated negotiation in Kyiv, but we were gonna get this economic agreement done. But when you bring it out to the public like this, we’ll see if there’s any coming back.”
Graham has long been one of the strongest proponents of U.S. support for Ukraine in Congress, backing billions of dollars in economic and military aid for Kyiv amid its ongoing conflict with Russia. He also advocated for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin early in the war, a position that was criticized by more cautious colleagues like Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Other Republicans, who oppose continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine, quickly came to Trump’s defense after the heated exchange in the Oval Office.
“America won’t be taken advantage of and America won’t be taken for granted. Thank you, President Trump and Vice President Vance for standing up for America,” stated Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) added, “Today was a powerful moment that reminds us what a strong American President looks like. His offer stands to Zelensky to come back when he’s serious about peace. In the meantime, don’t disrespect America.”
Democrats were quick to criticize Trump and Vance’s strong response, arguing that it would only serve to embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called the meeting “appalling” and warned, “Today’s White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) echoed this sentiment, stating, “Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy.”
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dismissed the Democratic criticism as “a lazy, cheap, and ultimately dishonest argument” against the Trump administration’s stance. “One can reject Zelenskyy’s [sic] impertinence—and especially his unrealistic demands for us to keep funding his war with no plan for peace—without being with Putin,” Lee wrote on X. “Trump and Vance are siding with Americans—not with anyone in Russia.”

{Matzav.com}