President Trump’s advisers on Saturday morning were still uncertain how to salvage a mining deal with Ukraine, which had been intended as a key first step in a Trump strategy to eventually secure a ceasefire and peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
What began as a formal meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday — a confidence-building step in a path toward peace between Russia and Ukraine — devolved into a feud, with finger-pointing and accusations.
The president’s closest advisers — stunned after the debacle in the Oval Office — huddled around the Cabinet Room’s oblong table for lunch, sources familiar with the events told CBS News.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles were joined by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina as the group rehashed what had just transpired.
They shared disbelief over what one source characterized as Zelenskyy badgering the president. Another official said that, had Zelenskyy kept his disagreements behind closed doors, the blowup wouldn’t have happened.
During the contentious meeting, Mr. Trump and Vance took an aggressive and sometimes belittling tone with Zelenskyy after he expressed doubt over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would honor a potential peace agreement given that he had repeatedly violated ceasefire deals, including the Minsk agreements, leading up to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In the hours after Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House at the behest of Rubio and Waltz — with a joint press conference scrapped — there was discussion about whether the Ukrainian leader should fire whoever may have advised him on Friday’s strategy. CBS News has reached out to Ukrainian officials for comment.
Some of the Trump team’s frustration targeted Zelenskyy’s chief adviser, Andriy Yermak, whom they believed had undermined negotiations in recent days. Others said they weren’t so sure it was an adviser problem.
It wasn’t the first time Zelenskyy had clashed with his American counterpart. President Biden once hung up on Zelenskyy because of the Ukrainian president’s perceived combativeness, sources familiar with the call told CBS News. The friction was kept private and officials insist the dispute was over policy — not basic facts like which country had started the war.
In recent days, there were signs the multibillion-dollar critical minerals deal might not come to fruition. Neither side had signed preliminary paperwork that typically precedes an economic agreement of this scale.
On Friday morning, Graham, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobochar of Minnesota, and others met privately with Zelenskyy at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. They recommended that Zelenskyy avoid being contentious, say thank you and sign the deal without changes, according to people in the room.
Some Trump advisers were nervous the deal might go south before the ceremonial signing, but felt confident by the time Mr. Trump greeted Zelenskyy. They viewed it as an economic security guarantee, a shared investment binding the U.S. and Ukraine for a generation, sources said.
Zelenskyy had appealed to the West for ceasefire and post-war security guarantees, which were not explicitly included in the minerals deal. In Kyiv last month, Treasury Secretary Bessent had described the agreement as the foundation for a larger peace deal, and an economic partnership that would provide once the conflict is over a ‘long term security shield for all Ukrainians.’ However, the deal itself was not a ceasefire or peace agreement. Bessent described it as a very strong signal to Russian leadership of American commitment.
Kyiv had hoped for security guarantees up front that would secure a pledge by the U.S. to help keep the long term peace and prevent Russia from invading again.
The White House expected to finalize a version of the deal Friday that was essentially the same as one Bessent presented to Kyiv in mid-February. One modification: a provision was removed that would have placed a $500 billion cap on the value of minerals Ukraine would provide. The change was made at Ukraine’s request because Zelenskyy disliked the narrative that Ukraine owed a certain repayment for past aid, people familiar with the deal said.
“We were trying to make it reasonable for them,” one Trump adviser said. Trump’s team privately discussed how they liked the new version better because it meant a deal could be worth more than initially conceived.
The minerals deal was a concept Graham had circulated as an avenue to create a new, mutually beneficial relationship for the two countries. Zelenskyy had presented it to Mr. Trump, at Graham’s urging, at a meeting at Trump Tower in September.
But on Friday, staff quietly removed the formal ceremonial set-up from the East Room — a conference table and two podiums, and two sets of binders with unsigned documents.
Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived in London to meet with sympathetic European allies. No plans had been made for Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy to speak again.
In the meantime, America remains the most significant military and financial backer of Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression. There is $3.85 billion in military equipment already designated for delivery to Ukraine, and it is not clear if Mr. Trump will still clear it for delivery.
“They are fortunate it’s not off already,” a senior U.S. official told CBS News.
As for any further pledges of U.S. support from the Republican-led Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson recently said there’s no appetite for it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-advisers-recall-what-led-up-to-oval-office-confrontation-volodymyr-zelenskyy/
