Tangle - The Trump-Zelensky Oval Office blowup.

I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”

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Quick hits.

1. Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to an extension of its ceasefire agreement, whose first phase expired on Saturday. (The block) Separately, Egypt said officials from Israel, Qatar, and the United States met in Cairo to begin negotiations over the second phase of the ceasefire. (The meeting)
2. A federal judge found that the Trump administration’s attempt to remove the head of a federal watchdog agency was unlawful, likely sending the case to the Supreme Court. (The ruling) Separately, the Trump administration fired hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees who were on probationary status, including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service. (The firings) 
3. President Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States, revoking a previous executive order that required federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers. (The order)
4. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 2.5% in January on an annual basis, in line with economists’ expectations. (The report)
5. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia as part of a broader effort to reevaluate operations against Russia. (The order) Separately, Hegseth approved orders for 2,500 to 3,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to the southern border to support immigration control efforts. (The deployment)

Today's topic.

The Trump-Zelensky meeting. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at the White House to conduct final negotiations over a mineral-rights deal. During an Oval Office discussion open to the press, Trump, Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance discussed the future of the Ukraine-Russia war. Toward the end of the meeting, however, Vance and Zelensky clashed over how the administration might navigate Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Zelensky left the White House without signing the minerals agreement.

Back up: The deal reportedly would have established a fund to give the United States 50% of revenues from future monetization of “all relevant Ukrainian Government-owned natural resource assets.” The Trump administration framed the deal, which did not include explicit security guarantees for Ukraine, as a critical step toward a ceasefire in the war. 

The majority of the roughly hour-long meeting was cordial, with Trump and Zelensky taking questions from the press and discussing their outlook on the war. About 40 minutes in, Vice President Vance criticized former President Joe Biden’s management of the conflict, arguing that U.S. diplomacy will be necessary to end the war. President Zelensky responded by noting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s history of reneging on agreements, asking Vance what diplomacy could be possible without security guarantees. From there, Vance called Zelensky “disrespectful” for “try[ing] to litigate this in front of the American media,” adding that he should be grateful for President Trump’s peace-seeking efforts. 

For the ensuing 10 minutes, the three leaders engaged in a contentious dialogue, with Trump telling Zelensky, “You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War Three.” Trump also said that Putin “went through a hell of a lot with me,” referencing the investigations into his 2016 campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia. The press were then escorted out of the room; shortly after, Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation departed the White House at President Trump’s request. 

After the meeting, President Trump said, “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations… He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

On Friday evening, Zelensky expressed his thanks to “President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people,” adding, “It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do.”

Republican lawmakers have rallied behind Trump — including many staunch supporters of Ukraine. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that Zelensky will have to "fundamentally change or go.” Democrats expressed shock and dismay at Trump’s handling of the meeting, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) saying it “will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin.”

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the United Kingdom and France would work with Ukraine on a peace plan that they would present to the United States. A group of world leaders also met in the UK on Sunday to rally support for Ukraine, discuss the future of the war, and weigh plans for increased defense spending in Europe. 

Today, we’ll share arguments from the right and left about the meeting. Then, my take.

What the right is saying.

• The right is mixed in its response, though many criticize Zelensky’s conduct. 
• Some express skepticism at the Trump administration’s positioning towards Ukraine and Europe.
• Others say Zelensky must apologize in order to reset relations with the U.S.

In Fox News, Victoria Coates wrote “Ukraine's Zelenskyy thought he'd look like a tough guy. He had another thing coming from Trump and Vance.”

“President Zelenskyy came to Washington this week thinking he would receive the same unquestioning adulation—and blank check—he had gotten on his visits during the Biden-Harris administration. In the Oval Office press engagement, Zelenskyy seemed condescending to America’s Commander in Chief and entitled to his unquestioning support and deference. This was a mistake,” Coates said. “Instead of keeping any disagreements behind closed doors, he seriously mis-read President Trump and Vice President Vance, blew the mineral-rights deal for the Ukrainian people, and did serious reputational damage to himself in front of the American people.”

“Rather [than] offering a simple ‘thank you’ he showed up with a chip on his shoulder and additional demands. Zelenskyy may have thought that the fight he picked would make him look like a tough guy, but in fact such disrespect is not going to endear him to the taxpayers who have committed hundreds of billions of their hard-earned dollars to his country and who voted for Donald Trump.”

National Review’s editors called the meeting an “ugly Oval Office spat.”

“President Trump issued a statement after the unpleasantries saying that Zelensky is not interested in peace, although, surely, he would have been perfectly content not to have his country invaded by Russia twice. What Zelensky and the Ukrainians want is guarantees that any deal won’t result in renewed Russian aggression down the road, with Ukraine even harder-pressed to defend itself,” the editors wrote. “This is not only an understandable concern, but one that it is in our interest to address, since further Russian adventurism would be costly in human terms and dangerous to the West.

“All this said, knowing Trump’s ego and Vance’s hostility in advance, it was a diplomatic failure on Zelensky’s part to get sucked into making argumentative points. The upside of critiquing Trump and Vance in public was nil, while the potential downside — which, unfortunately, Zelensky is now experiencing — was enormous,” the editors said. “One hopes that this doesn’t represent a fundamental breach in U.S.-Ukrainian relations. With President Trump, blowups can happen quickly, but so can reconciliations.”

The New York Post editorial board said “Zelensky must get peace back on track — and Trump needs to accept the abject apology.”

“Friday’s Oval Office blowup does no one any good, maybe not even Vladimir Putin. It’s up to, first, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and then President Trump to get the peace plan back on track. Zelensky must swallow his pride, apologize, say he’s grateful for the American people and Trump’s desire to end the slaughter. Then say it again and again, as many times as necessary,” the board wrote. “Trump needs to accept the apology and get the minerals deal signed, then proceed to foster a Kyiv-Moscow accord that serves both sides’ interests going forward.”

“At this point, the only real winner if the Ukraine war continues is China’s Xi Jinping — who gets to have Russia grow even more dependent on him while the West burns resources holding off the Kremlin’s forces. By the way, US Democrats and European leaders have a duty here, too: Shut up,” the board said. “You don’t need to like someone to make a deal. That not only goes for Putin and Zelensky, but for Trump and Zelensky. You do what’s best for your country, not your personal pride; get it done, gentlemen.”

What the left is saying.

• The left criticizes Trump and Vance’s handling of the meeting, arguing the episode only served Putin’s interests.
• Some say Zelensky bears some blame for the outcome and urge him to try to salvage the relationship with Trump.
• Others say Trump’s conduct humiliated the United States.

In Bloomberg, Andreas Kluth called the meeting “a win for Putin.”

“Trump and Vance berated the leader of a nation that’s been fighting for its existence for three years. ‘Have you said thank you once?’ Vance asked Zelenskiy. In fact, Zelenskiy has thanked the US, as well as Trump, scores of times since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war of aggression against Ukraine,” Kluth wrote. “Trump’s humiliation of Zelenskiy didn’t just start today. It began two weeks ago, when Trump called Putin and arranged for bilateral talks between the US and Russia.”

“The winner of this clash, as in all of Trump’s catastrophic missteps of the last month, is Putin. If the West had stayed united in backing Kyiv, Russia would not have been in a strong position when peace negotiations started. Its economy is in dire straits, and victory on the battlefield remains elusive. But with Trump essentially defecting from the West and siding with Moscow, Putin has an opening,” Kluth said. “Gone is any notion that America still stands for the sovereignty of nations such as Ukraine, for international rules and norms, for the right of victims of aggression to defend themselves.”

In The Washington Post, David Ignatius wrote “Zelensky doesn’t hold the cards. But he can still make a deal.”

“Trump, bizarrely, seems to want to rescue Moscow from its mistakes. On Friday, he expressed an eerie kinship with Putin as a fellow victim of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign,” Ignatius said. “Friday’s fracas wasn’t all Trump’s fault, to be fair. Zelensky’s pugnacity, which served him so brilliantly in the first days after Russia’s 2022 invasion, was his enemy here. Trump had been a fairly congenial host and said ‘one last question’ to the assembled press corps, when Zelensky launched into a recitation of Putin’s perfidy. This was like waving a red flag at a bull.”

“Zelensky should have studied the theatrical performance of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had masterfully flattered Trump the day before… Starmer’s reward was that Trump said out loud that he supported NATO’s cornerstone Article 5,” Ignatius wrote. “Trump doesn’t like Zelensky, but he does want to conclude a Ukraine deal. His last word, in a social media post after the Oval Office crack-up, was that Zelensky ‘can come back when he is ready for Peace.’ Zelensky resents Trump’s bullying, but he, too, needs the deal.”

In The Daily Beast, David Rothkopf said “Trump thinks he humiliated Zelensky. He really humiliated the United States.”

“The new U.S. administration has clearly embraced what might be called a ‘mob boss’ foreign policy—because of the criminal pasts of the men who are leading it and because of the tactics they appear to favor,” Rothkopf wrote. “When Zelensky failed to fall to his knees and kiss the hem of Trump’s garments in thanks, both Trump and Vance began to try to bully Zelensky in the most thuggish and repulsive way imaginable… It achieved precisely the goal that Putin and Trump had long sought, to produce a public break between the United States and Ukraine.”

“Zelensky was not cowed by the two-bit goons who confronted him. At the same time, while the meeting went off the rails and Trump undoubtedly felt he had done well for his audience in Red Square, Zelensky made it clear how much the world had changed since Trump has taken office,” Rothkopf said. “Trump thinks he humiliated Zelensky. He did not. He humiliated the United States of America. In addition, he put us all at greater risk of further conflict in Europe by encouraging Putin. Mob boss foreign policy will not work. It has not worked for Putin, whose violent forays have proved a disaster for the Russian military, the Russian economy, and for Russia’s international standing.”

My take.

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• The meeting felt somewhat tense but mostly normal up until the very end.
• Zelensky made a mistake by provoking Vance, but Vance also did not need to escalate the situation.
• Trump should now follow his own advice and not play games with getting a deal done.

Since most pundits are reacting to the end of the meeting, let me quickly recap a few things that happened before the now-infamous blowup. To really grasp how shocking it was, you have to watch the whole conversation from start to finish.

President Trump began the sit-down by complimenting the bravery and courage of Ukraine’s soldiers and President Zelensky. He repeatedly committed to providing Ukraine with arms into the future, even suggesting he could “conceivably” commit U.S. peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine alongside European troops, though that got almost zero press coverage because of what happened later. He referenced the longstanding relationship between the two men (it’s memory-holed now, but don’t forget Trump literally got impeached for attempting to pressure Zelensky into opening an investigation into the Biden family). 

Trump also repeatedly suggested the mineral-rights deal would be signed that day, and that a deal committing U.S. workers to mine mineral resources would ensure Ukraine’s safety. He even said the U.S. would consider how to handle the Russian troops in occupied Ukrainian territory where some of the minerals are located (Russia is claiming the territory and also trying to leverage those minerals in a deal with the U.S.).  

Trump, unsurprisingly, also walked a line in the middle, painting Putin and Zelensky as two people who dislike each other rather than as an aggressor and victim (Trump also defended this tactic, making the argument that being nice to Putin was key to getting a deal). On the whole, it was a pretty warm reception for Zelensky — most importantly, Trump suggested several commitments for Ukraine.

Still, through it all, there was some underlying tension. Both Zelensky and Trump endured some light prodding from each other and the reporters. Brian Glenn, the conservative activist and boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who now poses as a reporter in the Oval Office, asked Zelensky if he owned a suit and why he wasn’t wearing one. Zelensky didn’t take the bait, only joking back that maybe one day he’ll have a suit nicer than Glenn’s. Trump patted Zelensky’s back and told him he liked his outfit (earlier that day, Trump, too, had made a joke about what Zelensky was wearing). 

A few minutes later, as Zelensky was thanking European allies for giving a lot to Ukraine, Trump interrupted him to claim the U.S. has given more. Zelensky, in a joking tone, corrected him. The two sparred while laughing uncomfortably for a moment, though their underlying dispute was real (Zelensky, for what it’s worth, is correct) — another moment worth watching. Zelensky interrupted Trump to make a point on a couple of occasions; when Trump said Ukrainian cities have been “destroyed,” Zelensky said Trump needed to come to see how the Ukrainian people were enduring and carrying on.

The meeting carried some tension, maybe more than a typical public conversation between heads of state, but it really was quite conciliatory.

And then it happened. Vance, asking to speak, said that President Biden “talked tough” on Putin for years before Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a large portion of the country (points for explaining events as they actually happened). “The path to peace is maybe engaging in diplomacy,” Vance suggested. 

Zelensky, perhaps seeing a moment to make a point, then politely asked permission to ask a question to Vance (up to this point, it was mostly Zelensky and Trump talking with each other and reporters). Here is a version of his question, edited for clarity courtesy of Foreign Policy:

He [Putin] occupied various parts of Ukraine in 2014. During that time, it was President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, and now it’s President Trump and he will stop him [Putin]. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. From 2014 till 2022, the situation was the same — people have been dying on the contact line and nobody stopped him. We had a lot of conversations with him, including a bilateral conversation. As a new president in 2019, I signed with him a ceasefire deal alongside Macron and Merkel. All of them told me that he will never go. We also signed a gas contract with him. But after all of 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, J.D., are you speaking about? What do you mean?

And that was it. That was what set Vance off, who responded by arguing that it was “disrespectful” for Zelensky to “litigate this in front of the U.S. media” while forcing conscripts in Ukraine to the front lines before demanding that Zelensky say thank you to the president for trying to bring an end to the conflict. Zelensky, now clearly running hot, suggested the U.S. would also feel the effects of Russia’s aggression (true), and then asked Vance what he could know about Ukraine when he’s never even visited (this was news to me, by the way, but the vice president did not deny it). Vance said he’s “watched and seen the stories” and that visits to Ukraine are just propaganda tours, and with that, we were off the rails.

By the time it was all said and done, Trump was yelling that Zelensky didn’t have the cards, interjecting about “Hunter Biden’s bathroom” and the “Russia hoax,” and suggesting Zelensky was acting like a “tough guy” only because of Trump’s help. 

To state the obvious: Zelensky’s crime, his catastrophically offensive move, was pointing out the reality that Putin broke a ceasefire in 2014, and many others since, and that it is actually not easy to just “do diplomacy” with a despotic authoritarian hellbent on turning 40 million free Ukrainians into his subjects. I cannot imagine how infuriating it must have been to be in Zelensky's shoes listening to Vance smugly suggest this idea as if it is novel, as if it hasn’t been tried, as if Biden and Zelensky are idiots for never trying to just talk to Putin. Ukraine did sign ceasefire deals born of diplomacy with Putin; they got invaded for it. Thousands dead, millions displaced, and — yes — many cities destroyed. It’s a miracle Zelensky is even alive.

Vance, who in this same meeting had been cheering on the virtues of free speech, was apparently so incensed that Zelensky would use this moment to ask a pointed question — or to “litigate” the issue in front of the press — that he derailed the entire meeting. Litigating the issue, it should be said, is part of Zelensky’s job. Ukraine’s president knows his country is in dire need of help. He came to Washington hoping to finalize a deal exchanging Ukrainian natural resources for U.S. military support, but he saw a chance to speak directly to the U.S. people, too.

Let me also be clear about this: Zelensky screwed up. Just last Thursday, I described Zelensky as skilled at international politics. That take immediately aged poorly. Anyone who knows anything about this administration knows you should come in, kiss the ring, sign the deal, and leave. Trump is not a hard person to navigate: He is kind to people who compliment and respect him. This meeting, again, was going well. Trump was being friendly, saying all the right things, and making important commitments. Zelensky got the ball to the one yard line, and he fumbled it by picking a fight with the less important person he was sitting across from.

But I also don’t want to put all the agency on Zelensky, either. Vance just as easily could have taken a cue from his boss and shrugged off Zelensky’s question. He could have even used the opening to do the typical Trump worship now commonplace for the vice president: “Yes, nobody believes striking this deal is going to be easy, but we’re fortunate to have the greatest negotiator on earth.” Boom. Done. Why was that so hard?

I’ll also confess there is one other element underlying this meeting that made me more sympathetic to Zelensky. President Biden had been pouring the support on Ukraine, and Trump campaigned on ending that support. Vance also ran on a platform of ending aid to Ukraine for a Senate seat in 2022. In other words, Trump and Vance have each spent years making the public case that our support for Ukraine should stop, while also taking credit for that support, while also demanding Zelensky thank them for the support they are actively undermining (gratitude, by the way, he’s expressed over and over). In a sick twist of irony, this meeting — up until the blowup — was maybe the most unambiguously supportive of Ukraine I’ve ever heard Trump. 

To strike an analogy: It'd be like getting a new boss at work who simultaneously criticizes everything his predecessor did and everything you do, while also demanding you be grateful to them for everything the company — under his predecessor — did for you.

It is deeply manipulative.

I say all this as someone who just last week defended Trump and Vance and wrote enthusiastically about the framework for this deal. I also say it as someone who would have given Trump an A+ for the first 40 minutes of this meeting, given how focused he seemed on a peace deal and how many little moments with Zelensky he let go. 

Instead, it ended in disaster because of an unnecessary escalation from an unneeded pointed question. 

I really don’t know what will happen now. Zelensky, obviously, still wants the deal. The Ukrainian people seem to support how he comported himself, even if they understand it may have been damaging. If Trump and Vance really do decide to end our support for Ukraine and pull out of this deal, Zelensky’s actions will go down as one of the most catastrophic diplomatic failures I’ve ever seen. And, for us, it’ll be little more than a national disgrace. As Trump himself said on Friday, we shouldn’t play games with World War III — that message is applied just as well to Ukraine’s leader as it is to ours. 

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Under the radar.

Preliminary government data shows that apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border dropped to their lowest levels in at least 25 years during President Trump’s first full month in office. In February, Border Patrol says it apprehended approximately 8,450 unauthorized migrants at the southern border, which, once confirmed, would be the lowest monthly total since fiscal year 2000 (the last period with public monthly data). After reaching all-time highs in 2023, border apprehensions have steadily decreased, including a 38% decrease between December 2024 and January 2025. The Trump administration attributes the latest numbers to its government-wide initiatives to reduce immigration. CBS News has the story.

Numbers.

• $83.4 billion. The amount of United States aid to Ukraine disbursed between fiscal year 2022 and Q1 2025, according to the United States Ukraine Oversight Interagency Working Group. 
• $57 billion. The amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine that has been obligated but not yet disbursed. 
• $39.6 billion. The amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine that has been appropriated but not yet obligated. 
• 61%. The percentage of U.S. adults who think Russia started the Ukraine-Russia war, according to a February 2025 YouGov survey.
• 6%. The percentage of U.S. adults who think Ukraine started the Ukraine-Russia war.
• 15%. The percentage of U.S. adults who think Russia and Ukraine bear equal responsibility for the start of the Ukraine-Russia war.
• 58%, 54%, and 52%. The percentage of adults in Britain, Germany and France, respectively, who think current measures against Russia and aid given to Ukraine is not enough to prevent a Russian victory, according to a December 2024 YouGov survey.
• 21%, 21%, and 14%. The percentage of adults in Britain, Germany and France, respectively, who think their countries should increase support to Ukraine. 
• 36%, 28%, and 23%. The percentage of adults in Britain, Germany and France, respectively, who think their countries should support Ukraine until Russia withdraws, even if it means the war lasts longer.

The extras.

• One year ago today we had just published a Friday edition giving a Zionist case for a ceasefire.
• The most clicked link in Thursday’s newsletter was the $5 million immigration gold card.
• Nothing to do with politics: Nagaizumi, Japan, takes Portland’s title of home to the world’s smallest park.
• Thursday’s survey: 3,118 readers responded to our survey on a rare-earth deal with Ukraine with 48% approving only if Ukraine gets security guarantees. “I have no problem with Trump getting this deal for the U.S., but I'm skeptical of him guaranteeing and protecting Ukraine's autonomy and security,” one respondent said.

Have a nice day.

With the bird flu outbreak causing a national shortage, egg prices have skyrocketed to over $10 a dozen in many places. Two local farmers and a butcher decided to help their community offset these increased costs, handing out 200 cartons of eggs for free. Stationed at two locations, in Astoria, Queens, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, local shop Prince Abou’s Butchery handed out eggs to lines stretched down the block. They plan to hold additional giveaways in March. "We felt it was our duty to just make eggs accessible," CEO Abou Sow. "It makes me so happy that we are able to do this.” CBS News has the story.

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