Inside the 139 minutes that upended the US-Ukraine alliance

Last Friday (local time), White House chefs were busy preparing lunch in the West Wing, arranging rosemary roasted chicken, celery root puree, and kale. At the same time, an extraordinary meeting was unfolding in the Oval Office. U.S. President Trump and Vice President Vance began to rebuke their guest, Ukrainian President Zelensky, in a rare public breakdown of a crucial global relationship.

For supporters of Ukraine, the scene was disastrous: a meeting between two stubborn leaders where, in just ten minutes, everything that could go wrong did. Yet, despite the shock, this was not an entirely unforeseen outcome. In fact, prior to the talks—which were aimed at finally signing a new agreement on rare earth minerals—many allies on both sides privately doubted whether their already volatile relationship would ultimately lead to triumph or disaster.

Numerous efforts were made to ensure the success of Zelensky's meeting with Trump. It was well known that Trump was susceptible to flattery and very sensitive to how others treated him. The Ukrainian president was warned to focus on the minerals agreement and avoid getting drawn into arguments. Senator Lindsey Graham said, "I told him this morning, 'Don't take the bait. Don't let the media or anybody get you in a fight with President Trump. What he did today was reset the relationship.'" Graham was one of a group of Republican and Democratic senators who met with Zelensky.

Other European leaders who had visited the White House that week also offered Zelensky their guidance, including French President Macron, who had found a strategy of both flattering and pushing back that worked effectively with Trump. Still others—including some U.S. officials—tried to dissuade Zelensky from traveling to Washington, believing that further efforts were needed to strengthen the already strained relationship.

Nevertheless, when Zelensky drove through the White House gates on Friday, few could have anticipated that the next 139 minutes would be so explosive—although some spotted early signs of trouble. Zelensky, dressed in his signature military attire—a plain military shirt and trousers—emerged from the black SUV and showed no signs of tension with Trump, who walked across the West Wing corridor to greet him. But some American officials watching from a distance noticed a problem: Zelensky's attire.

"Oh, you're dressed for the occasion," Trump sarcastically greeted Zelensky and shook his hand. Before the Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match, a reporter from a right-wing media outlet—carefully selected by the White House to be present at the talks—asked Zelensky why he wasn't wearing a suit in America's highest office. "I will wear a suit after the war, yes," Zelensky replied in English. "Maybe like yours, yes, maybe better. I don't know, we will see. Maybe cheaper. Thank you."

Perhaps having learned a lesson from the series of foreign leaders who had visited the White House in the past month, Zelensky didn't come empty-handed. He brought a UFC belt won last year by Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. The brightly colored gold belt was propped up on one of the side tables, gleaming under the lights as the two men began to talk, but it was never mentioned during the talks.

For the first 40 minutes of the meeting, Trump did not outwardly display hostility towards Zelensky, instead discussing the minerals agreement they planned to sign later that day. In fact, upstairs in the East Room, a long wooden table had already been prepared for the signing ceremony, with four chairs set out for the signatories.

Vance, who had remained silent for most of the time, joined the conversation, interjecting, "Wait a minute. Hey, I want to respond," defending Trump's efforts to end the conflict. "The path to peace and prosperity is perhaps engaging in diplomacy," he said, directing his comments at Zelensky.

Everything deteriorated from there. Zelensky, himself unaccustomed to being publicly rebuked after three years of unwavering Western support, indignantly listed past ceasefire agreements that Russia had violated. "What diplomacy, JD, what are you talking about? What—you have—you—what do you mean?" he asked incredulously. "I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that might end the destruction of your country," Vance replied from his seat on the sofa next to Trump.

The situation only worsened. "I think it's disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate your case in front of the American media," Vance sternly rebuked. "You should be thanking the president for trying to end this conflict." As Zelensky tried—but largely failed—to interject, Trump erupted in anger. "You have no cards now," he roared, cutting Zelensky off directly when he objected. "You're gambling with the lives of millions of people," he shouted. "You're gambling with World War III."

Minutes later, Trump kicked the media out of the room. "That'll be great television, I will say that," he shouted as the reporters left. A panicked Ukrainian delegation—including Ukraine's ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, who stopped taking notes during the meeting and simply put her head in her hands—left the Oval Office and regrouped in the Roosevelt Room down the hall.

Trump gathered with his own top advisors—including Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—to assess the situation, and he was furious, saying he felt Zelensky's tone had been disrespectful to him. "Zelensky sucked. He came into the Oval Office and acted like a tough guy. It didn't work. Everyone in the room felt insulted," said one U.S. official. "Now Zelensky is going to have to figure out how to solve this himself. We can't solve it for him."

A White House official said the president ultimately concluded that Zelensky was "not fit to negotiate." He directed Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to deliver a message to the Ukrainians, who were waiting nearby: it was time for Zelensky to leave. "Time is not on your side," Waltz said on Fox News on Saturday, recalling his conversation with Zelensky. "Time on the battlefield is not on your side. Time in the world situation is not on your side, and most importantly, American aid and taxpayer tolerance is finite." The Ukrainians protested, saying they wanted to continue talks, White House officials said. But the request was denied.

Plates of salad, chicken, and crème brûlée that had been intended as lunch sat untouched on a cart in the hallway outside the press secretary's office, and the Ukrainians were instructed to leave. The day of surreal, broken diplomacy unfolded in less than three hours. Zelensky's motorcade left the White House gates at 1:42 p.m., without fanfare or farewell. He was taken to the Hay-Adams Hotel, not far away, where he and his advisors were staying.

Less than an hour later, he posted a message on social media expressing his gratitude to his hosts: "Thank you, America, for your support, thank you for this visit." He added, "Ukraine needs a just and lasting peace, and we are working to achieve it."

Meanwhile, the White House had already begun to shift gears, abandoning any pursuit of a deal with Ukraine and instead seeking to spin the diplomatic debacle into a symbol of strength by launching an extraordinary public relations offensive. "President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing up for the American people," the White House said in its first statement, released on Friday afternoon. Hours later, another message went out, containing words of support from members of Trump's cabinet. "Amen, Mr. President," said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Graham, a close ally of Trump who had met with Zelensky earlier that day, walked in front of the cameras outside the West Wing. He called on Zelensky to apologize or consider resigning. "I've never been prouder of the president than I am right now," Graham said. Meanwhile, inside the White House's East Room, preparations for a press conference with Trump and Zelensky were dismantled. A large table for the two leaders to sign an agreement, with a backdrop of three Ukrainian flags and three American flags, was removed.

Over the next few hours, Trump worked in the West Wing, surrounded by his staff. He was seen in the Oval Office with his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other advisors before walking out to leave the White House for the weekend. Marine One was waiting, but Trump stopped to speak again, trying to frame the extraordinary events of the day. "He wants to keep fighting and fighting and fighting," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn. "We want to end the deaths." Asked if he wanted Zelensky to resign, Trump declined to answer directly, saying only: "I want somebody that can make peace."

As the whirlwind day in Washington came to a close, Trump boarded Air Force One to fly to his Mar-a-Lago estate for the weekend. Shortly after takeoff, Zelensky appeared on Fox News for an interview, which Trump watched on the presidential plane. Zelensky said he didn't think he should apologize to Trump for the heated outburst in the Oval Office, but he regretted that it had all been broadcast on television to the world. "I think it's not good," Zelensky told Fox News's Bret Baier. "I think it's not good." But he said he believed his relationship with Trump and the United States would survive. "Your people helped to save our people," Zelensky said. "We are very, very grateful."