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The Oval Office was tense on Friday as President Trump welcomed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House to try and sign a historic minerals deal. That deal was never signed.
That’s because there were multiple testy exchanges between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance. Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for the support that the U.S. has given Ukraine. Trump also said that Zelenskyy was "Gambling with the lives of millions of people."
"I've empowered you to be a tough guy," Trump said of Zelensky. "I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. You're either going to make a deal or we're out."
Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the deal.
Zelenskyy was the third foreign dignitary to visit President Trump this week. Trump called the rare Earth minerals deal a fair one that will set the two countries up for years to come, but the deal was not signed after the meeting in the Oval Office and Zelenskyy left the White House with no press conference happening either.
Trump said the minerals would be used in a multitude of ways.
"We're going to be taking it and using it for all the things we do including AI, including weapons, and the military," Trump said. "This puts us in good shape."
Trump continues to work to reach a deal between Russia and Ukraine to end the war there. He said he spoke with President Vladimir Putin recently and believes an agreement to end the killing will be reached soon.
"We've started the confines of a deal and I think something can happen," Trump said from the Oval Office Friday. "We want to see it stopped and we want to see the money get put different kinds of use like rebuilding."
Trump again reiterated that the war would've never started if he were president. He gave credit to Zelenskyy and Ukraine's generals and soldiers for being "unbelievably brave."