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'You don’t have the cards': Trump and Vance berate Zelensky in Oval Office blowup

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'You don’t have the cards': Trump and Vance berate Zelensky in Oval Office blowup

An extraordinary diplomatic rupture unfolded in the Oval Office on Friday when President Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as an ungrateful ally risking global war in its ongoing defense against Russian invaders.

Trump and Zelensky opened their meeting, scheduled around the planned signing of a joint agreement on access to Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals, with complimentary terms, hailing the deal as a concrete American investment in Ukraine’s future.

But tensions quickly boiled over in unprecedented fashion when Vance accused the Ukrainian president of undermining Trump in public.

“I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said. “Have you said ‘thank you’ once?”

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Zelensky’s first words to the president at the meeting were, “Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you for the invitation.”

Zelensky had told Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be trusted, that Putin’s territorial ambitions had to be stopped, and that Ukraine would require security guarantees in any deal to end the war.

“We will never accept just [a] cease-fire,” Zelensky said. Kyiv has repeatedly warned that freezing the battlefront would allow Moscow to fortify its positions, entrench in occupied territory and rearm to come back for more.

The remarks prompted Trump to accuse Zelensky of lacking appreciation for U.S. assistance.

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“You can’t make any deals without compromises,” Trump said. Both Trump and Vance warned Zelensky that Ukraine is running low on soldiers.

“The problem is, I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy. And I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States,” Trump said. “Your people are very brave. You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out — I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards.

“Once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position,” Trump added. “But you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing.”

“I’m not playing cards,” Zelensky said.

“You’re not really in a good position right now,” Trump said, raising his voice. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”

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In the room, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States held her face in her hands. Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of State, appeared visibly uncomfortable as the meeting deteriorated.

It was an exceptional rebuke of a U.S. ally without precedent even for Trump, who in his first term frequently used joint appearances with world leaders to further his interests. This time, Zelensky pushed back, engaging in cross talk with Trump and Vance that demonstrated a level of defiance to the president and his team.

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Trump and Zelensky canceled a scheduled joint news conference shortly after the meeting. The mineral deal was not signed.

Instead, Zelensky was asked to depart, White House officials said, and Trump posted on social media that he should come back to Washington “when he is ready for peace.”

“I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” he said. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”

Zelensky, too, wrote on social media after the meeting. “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” he said. “Thank you @POTUS , Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Inside the Oval Office during Friday's meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Vice President JD Vance, center right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, center left, as President Trump listens in the Oval Office on Friday.

(Mystyslav Chernov / Associated Press)

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Democratic lawmakers were shaken by the joint appearance, and at least one Republican criticized Trump’s performance. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the meeting marked “a bad day for America’s foreign policy.”

“Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law,” Bacon said. “It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom.”

But Trump’s Cabinet members — including those leading agencies unrelated to foreign policy — praised the president’s performance as a display of American toughness.

So, too, did Russian leadership. “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” wrote Dmitry Medvedev, a government official and Russia’s former president.

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European leaders are imploring Trump to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine despite declining Republican backing for the war effort. Trump has opened up direct negotiations with Russia — the first talks between the two nations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago — and has pulled back U.S. government language characterizing Russia as the aggressor in the war.

Both France and the United Kingdom have said they are open to contributing to a peacekeeping mission, deploying boots on the ground inside Ukraine alongside other European troops. The Trump administration has ruled out contributing U.S. forces to that effort, and the president has said Ukraine can “forget about” joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a longtime goal of Kyiv opposed by Putin.

European officials signaled concern after the Oval Office meeting, with Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, expressing solidarity with Ukraine.

“Dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” Tusk wrote.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in the Oval Office on Thursday, said that Trump had created a “tremendous opportunity” to forge peace. But he added that an agreement had to be crafted that would prevent Russia from restarting the war down the line.

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Zelensky has been vague on exactly what kinds of security guarantees would be suitable for his country. He had come to Washington hoping for clarity on whether Trump would support the use of Russian assets frozen at the beginning of the war and whether Washington plans to lift sanctions on Moscow.

Fears that Trump could broker a peace deal with Russia that is unfavorable to Ukraine have been amplified by recent precedent-busting actions by his administration. Trump held a lengthy phone call with Putin, and U.S. officials met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia without inviting European or Ukrainian leaders — both dramatic breaks with previous U.S. policy to isolate Putin over the invasion.

Trump later seemed to falsely blame Ukraine for starting the war, and claimed Zelensky was a “dictator” for not holding elections after the end of his regular term last year, though Ukrainian law prohibits elections while martial law is in place.

After taking control of media access to the president this week, the White House allowed a reporter from Tass, a Russian news agency, to join other reporters in the Oval Office as Trump and Zelensky met on Friday. Reuters and the Associated Press were excluded.

Pinho reported from Washington, Wilner from Los Angeles. This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.

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Trump stirs GOP primary drama with visit to Massie’s Kentucky home turf

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Trump stirs GOP primary drama with visit to Massie’s Kentucky home turf

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President Donald Trump is taking his feud with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to the libertarian lawmaker’s home turf on Wednesday.

Trump is expected to hold an event in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, the Republican Party of Kentucky announced on social media Monday. It’s located in the northern part of the state’s 4th Congressional District, which Massie represents.

Massie’s primary rival, Ed Gallrein, will attend the Hebron event, his campaign confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, while deferring all other questions on the matter to the White House.

Massie himself will miss the event due to a previously scheduled official engagement, his spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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KHANNA AND MASSIE THREATEN TO FORCE A VOTE ON IRAN AS PROSPECT OF US ATTACK LOOMS

President Donald Trump will be visiting Rep. Thomas Massie’s congressional district on Wednesday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

When asked about the visit, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fox News Digital, “President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his Administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable.”

The president has thrown his considerable influence behind Gallrein to unseat Massie after the GOP lawmaker publicly defied Trump on multiple occasions.

MASSIE, KHANNA TO VISIT DOJ TO REVIEW UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES

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Massie most recently was one of two House Republicans to vote to stop Trump’s joint operation in Iran with Israel, though the legislation was successfully blocked by the majority of GOP lawmakers and a handful of Democrats.

Ed Gallrein, left, seen with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. (Ed Gallrein congressional campaign)

He was also one of two Republicans to vote against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year.

Trump in turn has hurled a slew of personal attacks against Massie, including calling him “weak and pathetic” in a statement endorsing Gallrein in October.

“He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike ‘lightweight’ Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time, one of numerous criticisms targeting the Kentucky Republican through the years.

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He called Massie the “worst Republican congressman” in July amid Massie’s bipartisan push to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

Then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But Massie has so far appeared to defy political gravity despite making political enemies out of both Trump and House GOP leaders.

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He handily defeated multiple primary challengers in 2024 and 2022, despite public feuds with Trump, and has served his district since 2012.

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Gallrein is a retired Navy SEAL and farmer who launched his campaign days after Trump made his endorsement. Their primary election day is May 19.

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California Democrats launch pricey polling effort to winnow crowded gubernatorial field

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California Democrats launch pricey polling effort to winnow crowded gubernatorial field

As anxiety mounts among California Democrats about the potential of a Republican being elected governor, the state party will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on polling to assess the viability of the sprawling field of candidates hoping to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to plans released Tuesday.

The move comes after nearly every Democratic candidate refused party leaders’ call last week to withdraw from the race to avoid splitting the vote in the June primary — an outcome that could lead to a Republican being elected to statewide office for the first time in two decades.

“Candidates have filed, and now they’ve got the opportunity to showcase their viability, their path to win. I want to simply ensure that everybody has information to fully understand the current state of the race,” said Rusty Hicks, the leader of the California Democratic Party.

As campaign season ramps up, the series of six polls will allow “candidates, supporters, the media, voters, anyone and everyone to have a clear understanding of what is or is not happening in this particular race,” he said.

The filing deadline to appear on the June 2 ballot was Friday. Three days earlier, Hicks released an open letter urging candidates who did not have a path to victory to withdraw from the race. Of the nine prominent Democrats who had announced runs for governor, only one heeded his call: former state Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon.

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That means the eight other candidates’ names will appear on the ballot, regardless of whether they decide to later drop out. And that creates the possibility of a Republican winning the race because of how California elections are decided.

The state has a voter-approved top-two primary system, under which the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary advance to the November general election, regardless of party.

Two prominent Republicans will appear on the ballot: former conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Even though Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1, and the state’s electorate last elevated Republicans to statewide office in 2006, it is mathematically possible for Democrats to splinter the vote, allowing the two GOP candidates to advance.

Under such a scenario, not only would Republicans be guaranteed the leadership of the nation’s most-populous state, but Democratic voter turnout also would probably be depressed in November, potentially affecting down-ballot races such as those that could determine control of Congress.

Hicks’ call last week prompted concerns among candidates of color, including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, that the effort was aimed at every nonwhite candidate in the race.

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The state party chairman responded that his letter was not aimed at any specific candidate.

“It’s not something I lose sleep over,” Hicks said when asked about the racial claims. But he added that the voter surveys will be conducted by Los Angeles-based Evitarus, the state’s only Black- and Latino-led full-service polling firm, and will oversample historically underrepresented communities: Latino, Black and Asian American voters.

Hicks said the polling will cost “multiple six figures” but did not specify the exact amount.

The first poll will be released on March 24, and then five additional surveys will come out every seven to 10 days until voters start receiving mail ballots in early May.

“We’re putting this forward to ensure everyone is armed with the information they need to clearly have an eyes-wide-open assessment of where the state of the race currently is between now and when ballots land in the mailboxes of voters,” Hicks said.

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Trump reveals top issues GOP should focus on to secure midterms victory: ‘I’ve never been more confident’

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Trump reveals top issues GOP should focus on to secure midterms victory: ‘I’ve never been more confident’

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President Donald Trump outlined five key items he believes will tip the upcoming midterm elections in the GOP’s favor — if Republicans can muscle them through Congress.

“No transgender mutilation surgery for our children,” Trump told an audience at the Republican Members’ Issues Conference. “Voter ID, citizenship [verification], mail-in ballots, we don’t want men playing in women’s sports.”

It’s the best of Trump. Those are the best of Trump. This is the number one priority, it should be, for the House,” Trump said.

Trump’s exhortations to Republican lawmakers come as the GOP wages an uphill campaign to hang on to a controlling majority in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He framed his legislative priorities as a way for Republicans to capitalize on popular demands within the GOP base that would increase their chances of preserving a Republican governing trifecta.

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President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One before departing Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 1, 2026. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PUSH ELECTION OVERHAUL WITH VOTER ID, MAIL-IN BALLOT CHANGES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

Currently, Republicans hold just four more seats than Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The GOP holds six more than Democrats in the Senate.

To keep the numbers in their favor, Republicans will need to beat historical trends. In the vast majority of past cases, parties that capture the White House in presidential elections face blowback in the midterms. Notably, the last time a majority party gained seats in both chambers of Congress in the midterms came under the Bush administration in 2002, following devastating attacks on the World Trade Center.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, left, and President Donald Trump shake hands during an Invest America roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on June 9, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

REPUBLICANS, TRUMP RUN INTO SENATE ROADBLOCK ON VOTER ID BILL

Trump said he believes Republicans have a shot at bucking the trend come November if they focus on his list.

“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” Trump said of his legislative priorities.

Republicans have already taken strikes towards two of them through the SAVE America Act, a piece of legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and cast a ballot. That bill cleared the House last month for a second time in the 119th Congress.

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Its future is uncertain in the Senate, where Republicans would need the assistance of seven Democrats to overcome the 60-vote threshold to defeat a filibuster. Democrats, for their part, believe the legislation would disenfranchise voters who cannot readily provide documented proof of citizenship through a passport, REAL ID, or birth certificate. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. has promised a vote on the package despite its long odds. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, talks with a guest during a “Only Citizens Vote Bus Tour” rally in Upper Senate Park to urge Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Several members have introduced bills on transgender issues, although none of them have cleared either chamber.

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I’ve never been more confident that if we keep these promises and deliver on this popular agenda, the American people will stand with us in overwhelming numbers, just as they did in 2024,” Trump said.

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