Uncomfortable feelings arising from the clash between Volodomyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump

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A press conference between United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy started in a seemingly amicable way on Saturday (AEDT).

Trump started by praising the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers, and saying it was an honour to host Zelenskyy in the White House .

Under the deal, the US would acquire large portions of Ukrainian rare earths, which Trump said would help bring the war in Ukraine to an end.

The negotiations between the leaders appeared to be progressing well, when the meeting escalated into a heated argument with raised voices and interruptions.

Trump and US vice president JD Vance suggested Zelenskyy’s approach to the deal hindered peace efforts, while Zelenskyy defended Ukraine’s position, highlighting past failed agreements with Russia and the need for security guarantees from the US.

Professor Peter Dean from the US Studies Centre at Sydney University said diplomatic discussions like this usually take place behind closed doors.

Volodomyr Zelenskyy, dressed in black, walks past a woman in blue towards a black vehicle with the door open

Volodomyr Zelenskyy left the White House early after the fiery exchange with Donald Trump and JD Vance. Source: Getty / Andrew Harnik

“We are not used to seeing diplomacy run like this. We’re not used to seeing this type of debate and indeed arguing,” he told SBS News.

“You never look at how the ‘sausage is made’ because it’s not very attractive and not very nice.

“Mr Trump is president, he likes to do this on the public stage and on the world stage. And that’s exactly what we saw at the meeting the other day.”

Videos of the fiery exchange have been circulated widely on social media, which clinical psychologist Danielle Epstein said could cause viewers to have a strong emotional reaction.

‘Makes our emotions stronger’

“For everybody, when we see something that’s alarming or surprising, it does make our emotions stronger. It switches us on,” the researcher and adjunct fellow at Sydney’s Macquarie University told SBS News.

“We really focus on what we’re looking at and we’re pretty uncomfortable with it if it’s something that’s important to us.”

For people impacted by the war in Ukraine, or with personal connections to the region, this form of content could be particularly distressing.

Epstein explained that social media dissemination of this content can also amplify a person’s distress, as often the most dramatic aspects are highlighted without additional context.

“Social media content and these snippets of news, it’s almost as though it’s being designed behind the scenes to get our attention,” she said.

Different personality types

People react differently when being exposed to unusual content online and can be prone to a variety of responses.

Epstein said some people are naturally more predisposed to catastrophise or be concerned when seeing something distressing.

“If you are a worrier, then it’s really easy to get drawn into really thinking about it and wanting to talk about it all the time with people,” she said.

“Especially if its an emotionally charged topic.”

Others can be more accustomed to dealing with uncertainty and take a more “cynical” approach.

“Some people are just more cynical and they realise and recognise what’s going on, and they don’t give it quite as much meaning, and they’re prepared actually to wait and see what happens,” she said.

“They see that incident as one alarming incident that’s designed to get everybody’s attention, but they don’t see it necessarily as being an end-of- the-world scenario.”

Epstein said a good way to process distressing content is to talk about it with others, but to avoid dwelling on it.

“Talking about things is healthy and a quick conversation about how astounding it was is a healthy way to just unpack it,” she said.

“But just trying not to go into it for too much depth or too long looking to solve the world’s problems right there at every opportunity, because that’s not quite so healthy for us.”

Unplanned outburst or orchestrated bargaining

The work towards a mineral deal between Ukraine and the US appears to have stalled, but Dean believes the fiery exchange could be all a part of Trump’s negotiation tactics.

“It seemed to me very orchestrated in the White House the other day, deliberately designed to provoke President Zelensky. And unfortunately, he took their bait,” Dean said.

“And I think this is part of a broad set of bargaining tactics that the US is putting in position. They’re talking very blunt, very openly and very publicly.

“As President Trump said at the end, this will make for great television.”

Dean explained that Trump would have had an objective going into the meeting with Zelenskyy, as his administration wants to appear frugal when it comes to financial aid to Ukraine.

“They’re doing it for two political constituencies, not only sending messages to the European Union and to the Europeans about their security,” he said.

“They’re sending messages to the MAGA (Make America Great Again) support base back home.”

The minerals deal, which was set to be signed this week, remains up in the air.

Will the minerals deal happen?

But Dean said Trump would want the deal to go ahead.

“Clearly, Trump wants a critical minerals deal. He sees that as essential to the United States,” he said.

“China is the largest provider of critical minerals in the world, and that’s a liability that the United States and other countries want to move away from.

“I think Donald Trump understands that he will have to provide some type of security assurances, but he wants that with the US backstopping things rather than leading these things.”

while the war continues and peace talks carry on.

Just this week world leaders met in London to discuss their own peace plan to present to the US, but Trump’s ongoing role in the region as a peacekeeper has been brought into question according to Dean.

“For many European leaders, their question will be how much can you trust President Trump’s word to actually follow through on that [security in Ukraine].”