{"id":2475947,"date":"2025-08-18T15:26:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T19:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-and-zelensky-play-nice-top-takeaways-from-high-stakes-oval-office-redo\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T15:27:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T19:27:35","slug":"trump-and-zelensky-play-nice-top-takeaways-from-high-stakes-oval-office-redo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-and-zelensky-play-nice-top-takeaways-from-high-stakes-oval-office-redo\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump and Zelensky play nice: Top takeaways from high-stakes Oval Office redo"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-and-zelensky-play-nice-top-takeaways-from-high-stakes-oval-office-redo%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2475947&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This article covers the recent Oval Office meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former U.S. President Donald Trump. Unlike their previous tense encounter in February, the meeting was civil and diplomatic, lasting about 30 minutes. Zelensky arrived prepared, wearing a military-style suit instead of casual attire, and brought a letter from his wife for Melania Trump, highlighting a tone of gratitude and respect.<\/p>\n<p>Key takeaways include Zelensky thanking Trump profusely for his support and efforts to end the war in Ukraine, as well as Trump expressing cautious optimism about brokering a peace deal involving Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. Trump indicated he would soon have a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss further steps and mentioned the possibility of a trilateral meeting to push for peace.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also showed openness to the idea of a U.S. peacekeeping force in Ukraine after any agreement, emphasizing the need for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/debunking-the-four-biggest-lies-youve-been-told-about-israel\/\" title=\"Debunking The Four Biggest Lies You\u2019ve Been Told About Israel\">long-term peace<\/a> and security guarantees, though he clarified that NATO membership for Ukraine has not been discussed or promised.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky noted that Ukraine could hold elections only after a truce is established, stressing the necessity of ceasefire conditions for democratic processes. The article underscores a more positive and diplomatic approach compared to prior meetings,with European leaders showing support by visiting the White House on the same day. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump and Zelensky play nice: Top takeaways from high-stakes Oval Office redo<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2206841\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Ukrainian President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/volodymyr-zelensky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> avoided a contentious repeat of his February meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, keeping to script and correcting his perceived shortcomings as he sat next to President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a bilateral meeting that lasted just under 30 minutes, Zelensky kept an impromptu visit to the White House on track with diplomatic exchanges that were civil and deferential. Zelensky gave Trump a letter, written for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/melania-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Melania Trump<\/a> by his wife, and wore a military-style suit &mdash; a clothing choice meant to avoid a blowup over his dressed-down attire at their last visit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3758597\/zelensky-suit-russia-ukraine-war-white-house-meeting\/\">Zelensky dunks on reporter joking about his suit: &#8216;I changed, you did not&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3757948\/trump-executive-order-mail-in-ballots-voting-machines\/\">Trump promises executive order to &#8216;get rid of&#8217; mail-in ballots and voting machines<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3757910\/watch-live-european-leaders-white-house-trump-zelensky\/\">WATCH LIVE: European leaders arrive at White House for Trump-Zelensky meeting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Before the sit-down, Trump welcomed Zelensky personally, patting him on the back as the two entered the White House.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >high-stakes meeting<\/a>, which came after Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3501703\/trump-putin-meeting-alaska-takeaways-russia-hoax-moscow-visit\/?_gl=1*1smrahd*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwnovFBhDnARIsAO4V7mDVhmIBkYUliLWi2ULKBVbhJXGyVsg0USZZYOFjI37nt4fj1tPGOIAaAr_7EALw_wcB&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD8dCuyinEpOR0vbm-KLUtoCbvYU7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">met with Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> in Alaska on Friday, marked a significant shift from their last encounter at the White House, which was cut short after Trump and Zelensky grew visibly frustrated with each other.<\/p>\n<p>The pleasantries signaled progress toward brokering a peace deal that both Russia and Ukraine can accept, with Trump offering a &ldquo;reasonable chance&rdquo; of success if the meetings went as planned.<\/p>\n<p>At another point, Trump dwelt on ballots that he claimed were fraudulently mailed in the 2020 election in a detour from the Ukraine-focused meeting.<\/p>\n<p>European leaders flocked to the White House to offer diplomatic support to Zelensky. Those leaders, including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, were set to meet with Trump later on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the top six takeaways from the meetings.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-zelensky-thanks-trump-profusely\">Zelensky thanks Trump profusely<\/h2>\n<p>After Zelensky unceremoniously left the White House following the February meeting, the Ukrainian leader took a different tactic this go-around.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky notably thanked Trump profusely as he mentioned first lady Melania Trump&rsquo;s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3501954\/melania-trump-letter-peace-ukraine-war-putin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> letter to Putin<\/a> asking him to end the war and stop the killing of children.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Thank you very much for being here,&rdquo; Trump said as he kicked off the bilateral meeting.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Thanks so much, Mr. President,&rdquo; Zelensky responded. &ldquo;If I can, first of all, thank you for invitation, and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts, to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>At their prior sit-down, Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky for not expressing thanks regarding Trump&rsquo;s support of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And using this opportunity, my thanks to your wife, first lady of the United States, she sent a letter to Putin about our children, abducted children,&rdquo; Zelensky continued. &ldquo;And my wife, she, first lady of Ukraine, she gave the letters. It&rsquo;s not to you, [it&rsquo;s] to your wife.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The two leaders laughed at Zelensky&rsquo;s quip.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-zelensky-sports-fabulous-suit\">Zelensky sports &lsquo;fabulous&rsquo; suit<\/h2>\n<p>Zelensky&rsquo;s outfit of choice during his Oval Office visit with Trump once again became a subject of conversation, with the Ukrainian president wearing an all-black suit.<\/p>\n<p>The Ukrainian president&rsquo;s attire was complimented by Brian Glenn, the chief White House correspondent of the conservative Real America&rsquo;s Voice, who said he looked &ldquo;fabulous in that suit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The comment from Glenn came after he previously pressed Zelensky over his attire, a long-sleeved Henley T-shirt, during his last visit to the White House, when Glenn asked him why he was not wearing a suit.<\/p>\n<p>Trump interjected after Glenn&rsquo;s compliment on Monday, saying he had told the Ukrainian leader the same thing, before Zelensky quipped that Glenn was in the same suit as the last time he saw him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I changed, you did not,&rdquo; Zelensky said with a smirk.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky previously said he would wear a &ldquo;costume after this war finishes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trump-says-he-and-putin-will-speak-soon\">Trump says he and Putin will speak soon<\/h2>\n<p>After meeting with Zelensky and the EU leaders on Monday, Trump said he and Putin would speak by phone.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just spoke to President Putin indirectly, and we&rsquo;re going to have a phone call right after these meetings today,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;And we may or may not have a trilat. If we don&rsquo;t have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance. I think if we have a trilat, there&rsquo;s a good chance of maybe ending it. But he&rsquo;s expecting my call when we&rsquo;re finished with this meeting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The call comes after their Friday meeting in Alaska, which did not result in a ceasefire or peace deal.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trump-says-reasonable-chance-ukraine-war-ends\">Trump says &lsquo;reasonable chance&rsquo; Ukraine war ends<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. president appeared positive in his assessment of ending the Russia-Ukraine war after more than three years of fighting.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If everything works out well today, we&rsquo;ll have a trilat,&rdquo; Trump said of a possible meeting between Zelensky, Putin, and himself. &ldquo;And I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Before Trump met with Putin on Friday, he favored a ceasefire deal between the warring nations. But he has now changed his tune, preferring a peace deal. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you need a ceasefire,&rdquo; Trump told reporters. &ldquo;You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn&rsquo;t do any ceasefires. And I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically, well, you know, one country or the other wouldn&rsquo;t want it.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Trump said he liked &ldquo;the concept of a ceasefire&rdquo; because it ends the killing.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trump-hedges-on-us-peacekeeping-force\">Trump hedges on US peacekeeping force<\/h2>\n<p>The president signaled his willingness to consider a U.S. peacekeeping force in Ukraine in the aftermath of a possible peace deal.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;re going to work with Ukraine, we&rsquo;re going to work with everybody, and we&rsquo;re going to make sure that if there&rsquo;s peace, the peace is going to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boat-migrants-reach-corsica-france-for-first-time-since-2010\/\" title=\"Boat Migrants Reach Corsica, France for First Time Since 2010\">stay long-term<\/a>,&rdquo; Trump said when asked by a reporter.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is very long-term,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not talking about a two-year peace, and then we end up in this mess again. We&rsquo;re going to make sure that everything&rsquo;s good. We&rsquo;ll work with Russia. We&rsquo;re going to work with Ukraine. We&rsquo;re going to make sure it works.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He also told reporters there could possibly be an update on sending troops &ldquo;maybe later today.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also, and we&rsquo;ll be talking about that,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;When it comes to security, there&rsquo;s going to be a lot of help. It&rsquo;s going to be good.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Despite the expectation of some security guarantees, Trump has said Ukraine would not be granted <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115047128460078066\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NATO membership<\/a> before their Monday meeting.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t done anything on that yet,&rdquo; Trump said when asked by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> about not granting Ukraine NATO membership but granting them Article 5-like guarantees. &ldquo;If you look back and you go back long before President Putin, it was always a statement that they would never allow Ukraine in today. So that was a statement that was made, but we haven&rsquo;t discussed any of that yet. We&rsquo;re going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security. That&rsquo;s part of it.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-zelensky-says-truce-needed-for-ukraine-to-hold-elections\">Zelensky says truce needed for Ukraine to hold elections<\/h2>\n<p>The Ukrainian president expressed openness for Ukraine to hold elections after a peace deal is struck with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>While claiming that Ukraine cannot hold elections during a war, Zelensky answered that he would be open to elections but that a truce is needed for the country to hold them safely.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We need a truce, yes, everywhere &mdash; the battlefield, in the sky, and the sea &mdash; to make it possible for people to do democratic, open legal elections,&rdquo; Zelensky said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump played off of Zelensky&rsquo;s answer, joking that if the United States were at war in 3 1\/2 years, or during the 2028 election cycle, he might be able to remain in office.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,&rdquo; Trump said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump and Zelensky&#8217;s Oval Office meeting: key takeaways<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2475948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WEX-ZELENSKY-3.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3817,35056,3634,61476,8630],"class_list":["post-2475947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-diplomacy","tag-oval-office","tag-trump","tag-us-ukraine-relations","tag-zelensky"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WEX-ZELENSKY-3.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2475951,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475947\/revisions\/2475951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}