(ASSOCIATED PRESS) The first time he spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump tried to pressure Ukraine’s new leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. It was a 2019 phone call that eventually sparked an impeachment.
On Friday, a meeting in the Oval Office that started out with cordialities turned heated at the end, with Vice President JD Vance telling Zelenskyy to show more gratitude toward Trump, before the president himself began shouting.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump berated Zelenskyy. “You’re gambling with World War III.”
With that, Trump scrapped plans to sign an agreement that would have allowed the U.S. to access Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, a deal the U.S. president had said would have helped move the war toward a conclusion. The blowup cast new doubt on the future of U.S. support for Kyiv in fending off Russia’s invasion.
A look at the evolution of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship over the years:
