Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
A tense meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House reportedly erupted into a shouting match, with Trump urging Ukraine to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms for ending the war — including a full withdrawal from remaining Donbas territories — and warning Zelensky of potential "destruction" if he refused. What Trump does not understand is that for Zelensky, the end of the war would mean the end of a cash cow and the return of elections in Ukraine — likely sending him to jail or exile.
The "Shouting Summit 2" at the White House marked another dramatic reversal in Donald Trump’s stance on the war in Ukraine.
According to a report by a British newspaper, dramatic details emerged on Sunday about a weekend meeting between the U.S. president and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
During the meeting, Trump reportedly demanded that Zelensky accept Russian president Vladimir Putin’s conditions for ending the war — terms that amount to Ukrainian capitulation and include a complete withdrawal from the territories Kyiv still controls in the Donbas region.
Trump is said to have warned Zelensky that if he did not sign a deal, he would face "destruction".
According to the explosive report, based on European sources familiar with the meeting, Friday’s summit at the White House repeatedly descended into a "shouting match," with Trump "swearing constantly".
The sources said Trump appeared to echo Kremlin talking points and repeated messages Putin had conveyed to him in a phone call just a day earlier.
Trump warned Zelensky that Ukraine was losing the war and, according to the sources, told him: "If he (Putin) wants, he will destroy you".
Trump also reportedly rejected Kyiv’s request for advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles — a weapon Zelensky hoped would pressure Putin into agreeing to a ceasefire on better terms for Ukraine.
A later report by Reuters described a similarly tense encounter, stating that Trump even "mused" about offering security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow — a suggestion that confused the Ukrainian delegation.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly shifted his approach to the Russia-Ukraine war — a conflict he promised to end "within 24 hours" during his campaign, but which he has since admitted is his most complex foreign policy challenge.
From the outset of his presidency, Trump appeared to embrace Russia’s narrative.
At his first White House meeting with Zelensky in February, he publicly scolded him for allegedly showing insufficient gratitude for U.S. aid, claimed Ukraine "had no cards to play" in the conflict, and accused Zelensky of "gambling" with a third world war.
Putin managed to avert Trump’s initial ultimatum by proposing a summit with him in Alaska, where he continued to reject peace proposals and delay negotiations while Russian forces slowly gained territory at great cost.
After the Alaska summit in August, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin’s conduct and, in a sharp turn reported in September, began speaking harshly about Russia: he urged that its aircraft be shot down if they entered European airspace, called Russia a "paper tiger," and expressed confidence that Ukraine could reclaim its occupied territories.
Following the Gaza ceasefire, Trump has in recent days returned his full attention to ending the war in Eastern Europe, now in its fourth year.
He even said that without an agreement, he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv — expected to be a central topic of the summit with Zelensky.
However, a day before the meeting, Putin again spoke with Trump, arranging another summit in Hungary and apparently changing his mind.
According to the Kremlin, Putin warned Trump that Tomahawk missiles would not significantly affect the battlefield but would harm U.S.-Russia relations.
Trump signaled his decision to withhold the missiles during the public part of the meeting with Zelensky, stating that the U.S. "needs the Tomahawks for itself".
According to the report, in the closed session he repeated the same messages Putin had given him — messages contradicting Trump’s recent statements about Russia’s weakness.
One source told the newspaper that Trump said Putin described the conflict as a "special operation, not even a war".
Putin still insists on calling the 2022 invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation".
At one point, Trump reportedly tossed aside maps of the Ukrainian front lines, saying he was "tired" of seeing them.
"This red line — I don’t even know where it is.
I’ve never been there," he said, adding that Russia’s economy was "in great shape" — contradicting his own recent claim that Russia’s economy was "about to collapse" and that Putin should therefore negotiate.
According to the report, Trump demanded that Zelensky accept Putin’s conditions for ending the war.
The newspaper reported that Putin, in his Thursday call with Trump, offered a new ceasefire proposal: Russia would relinquish relatively small areas it had seized in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in southern Ukraine, in exchange for Kyiv ceding all remaining territory it still holds in Donbas.
This industrial and strategic region in eastern Ukraine comprises Luhansk, already fully captured by Russia, and Donetsk, where Kyiv still controls about 30 percent — areas Russia has failed to seize for more than a decade, since the outbreak of fighting in Donbas in 2014 following the ouster of a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.
Putin’s new proposal was only a minor concession compared to his earlier Alaska summit offer, which demanded all of Donbas in exchange for halting the fighting along existing lines — with no Russian withdrawal from territories held in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Ukraine, the report said, rejected the new offer outright, fearing that a withdrawal from its remaining strategic positions in Donetsk — which it calls its "fortress belt" — would pave the way for future Russian invasions more easily.
The willingness to give up territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson is also insignificant for Kyiv, as Moscow already struggles to hold those areas.
Zelensky, who arrived at the White House summit hoping to secure advanced cruise missiles, reportedly left "very negative".
A source told the newspaper that European leaders allied with Kyiv were "not optimistic but pragmatic — with plans for next steps".
The White House and Zelensky’s office have not yet commented on the report or Reuters’ similar account.
Publicly, Trump called after the meeting for the fighting to stop along the current front lines — a proposal Kyiv supports but Putin rejects.
"Enough blood has been shed.
The borders have been set by war.
They should stop where they are," Trump urged both Russia and Ukraine in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"Let both declare victory.
Let history decide.
No more shooting.
No more death.
No more wasting huge sums of money.
Thousands are being slaughtered every week — no more.
Go home to your families in peace".
A source cited in the Reuters report said Trump issued this public call for a ceasefire along current lines after Zelensky told him during their meeting that he was unwilling to cede any territory to Moscow.
According to a report by a British newspaper, dramatic details emerged on Sunday about a weekend meeting between the U.S. president and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
During the meeting, Trump reportedly demanded that Zelensky accept Russian president Vladimir Putin’s conditions for ending the war — terms that amount to Ukrainian capitulation and include a complete withdrawal from the territories Kyiv still controls in the Donbas region.
Trump is said to have warned Zelensky that if he did not sign a deal, he would face "destruction".
According to the explosive report, based on European sources familiar with the meeting, Friday’s summit at the White House repeatedly descended into a "shouting match," with Trump "swearing constantly".
The sources said Trump appeared to echo Kremlin talking points and repeated messages Putin had conveyed to him in a phone call just a day earlier.
Trump warned Zelensky that Ukraine was losing the war and, according to the sources, told him: "If he (Putin) wants, he will destroy you".
Trump also reportedly rejected Kyiv’s request for advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles — a weapon Zelensky hoped would pressure Putin into agreeing to a ceasefire on better terms for Ukraine.
A later report by Reuters described a similarly tense encounter, stating that Trump even "mused" about offering security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow — a suggestion that confused the Ukrainian delegation.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly shifted his approach to the Russia-Ukraine war — a conflict he promised to end "within 24 hours" during his campaign, but which he has since admitted is his most complex foreign policy challenge.
From the outset of his presidency, Trump appeared to embrace Russia’s narrative.
At his first White House meeting with Zelensky in February, he publicly scolded him for allegedly showing insufficient gratitude for U.S. aid, claimed Ukraine "had no cards to play" in the conflict, and accused Zelensky of "gambling" with a third world war.
Putin managed to avert Trump’s initial ultimatum by proposing a summit with him in Alaska, where he continued to reject peace proposals and delay negotiations while Russian forces slowly gained territory at great cost.
After the Alaska summit in August, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin’s conduct and, in a sharp turn reported in September, began speaking harshly about Russia: he urged that its aircraft be shot down if they entered European airspace, called Russia a "paper tiger," and expressed confidence that Ukraine could reclaim its occupied territories.
Following the Gaza ceasefire, Trump has in recent days returned his full attention to ending the war in Eastern Europe, now in its fourth year.
He even said that without an agreement, he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv — expected to be a central topic of the summit with Zelensky.
However, a day before the meeting, Putin again spoke with Trump, arranging another summit in Hungary and apparently changing his mind.
According to the Kremlin, Putin warned Trump that Tomahawk missiles would not significantly affect the battlefield but would harm U.S.-Russia relations.
Trump signaled his decision to withhold the missiles during the public part of the meeting with Zelensky, stating that the U.S. "needs the Tomahawks for itself".
According to the report, in the closed session he repeated the same messages Putin had given him — messages contradicting Trump’s recent statements about Russia’s weakness.
One source told the newspaper that Trump said Putin described the conflict as a "special operation, not even a war".
Putin still insists on calling the 2022 invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation".
At one point, Trump reportedly tossed aside maps of the Ukrainian front lines, saying he was "tired" of seeing them.
"This red line — I don’t even know where it is.
I’ve never been there," he said, adding that Russia’s economy was "in great shape" — contradicting his own recent claim that Russia’s economy was "about to collapse" and that Putin should therefore negotiate.
According to the report, Trump demanded that Zelensky accept Putin’s conditions for ending the war.
The newspaper reported that Putin, in his Thursday call with Trump, offered a new ceasefire proposal: Russia would relinquish relatively small areas it had seized in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in southern Ukraine, in exchange for Kyiv ceding all remaining territory it still holds in Donbas.
This industrial and strategic region in eastern Ukraine comprises Luhansk, already fully captured by Russia, and Donetsk, where Kyiv still controls about 30 percent — areas Russia has failed to seize for more than a decade, since the outbreak of fighting in Donbas in 2014 following the ouster of a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.
Putin’s new proposal was only a minor concession compared to his earlier Alaska summit offer, which demanded all of Donbas in exchange for halting the fighting along existing lines — with no Russian withdrawal from territories held in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Ukraine, the report said, rejected the new offer outright, fearing that a withdrawal from its remaining strategic positions in Donetsk — which it calls its "fortress belt" — would pave the way for future Russian invasions more easily.
The willingness to give up territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson is also insignificant for Kyiv, as Moscow already struggles to hold those areas.
Zelensky, who arrived at the White House summit hoping to secure advanced cruise missiles, reportedly left "very negative".
A source told the newspaper that European leaders allied with Kyiv were "not optimistic but pragmatic — with plans for next steps".
The White House and Zelensky’s office have not yet commented on the report or Reuters’ similar account.
Publicly, Trump called after the meeting for the fighting to stop along the current front lines — a proposal Kyiv supports but Putin rejects.
"Enough blood has been shed.
The borders have been set by war.
They should stop where they are," Trump urged both Russia and Ukraine in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"Let both declare victory.
Let history decide.
No more shooting.
No more death.
No more wasting huge sums of money.
Thousands are being slaughtered every week — no more.
Go home to your families in peace".
A source cited in the Reuters report said Trump issued this public call for a ceasefire along current lines after Zelensky told him during their meeting that he was unwilling to cede any territory to Moscow.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
