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Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter

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Defense &
National Security

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The Big Story

Trump, Zelensky meeting goes off the rails over Russia

Efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine were left in tatters following President Trump’s confrontational White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky arrived at the White House on Friday with the hopes of signing a critical minerals deal with the U.S. and securing assurances from Trump as he seeks to broker peace between Kyiv and Moscow. But negotiations ended shortly after they started, with Trump calling Zelensky “disrespectful” and saying he was “not ready for peace.”

One of the most remarkable Oval Office scenes in years, the animosity was the culmination of roughly a month of growing tensions between the Trump administration and Zelensky, who had frustrated White House officials with some of his rhetoric and actions.

Trump welcomed Zelensky to the Oval Office cordially, praising the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and insisting he wanted to see peace in region. But the meeting soon devolved into shouting and finger-pointing, with the president and Vice President Vance accusing Zelensky of being ungrateful and of having little leverage.

The moment the meeting went from friendly to off the rails occurred when Vance said Trump was engaging in diplomacy and Zelensky questioned “what kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?” noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken ceasefires and killed Ukrainians.

That sent all three men into a shouting match that ended with Trump ordering Zelensky from the White House with no signed critical minerals deal.

Before that, Trump suggested Ukraine would have to make compromises with Russia to end the war — while avoiding giving details on what Moscow might have to give up. He also said ramping up pressure on Putin would be counterproductive to reaching a peace deal.

The president also scolded Zelensky for placing demands on Russia’s side of the peace deal, telling him: “You’re not really in good position right now,” and “you don’t have the cards right now.”

Trump later told reporters that Zelensky had “overplayed his hand” in the Oval Office meeting, signaling that future U.S. support might be in jeopardy if Zelensky does not want to end the fighting.

Asked what Zelensky would have to do to restart talks, Trump said the Ukrainian leader would have to say, “I want to make peace,” instead of criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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Essential Reads

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Karl Rove: Putin wins in Trump-Zelensky dispute

Republican strategist Karl Rove said Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only winner in the messy 10-minute public spat between President Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office Friday. “It is going to be incredibly hard to walk back from the kind of animosity we saw in that room today and to walk back some of those statements,” Rove, a top White House aide during …

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On Our Radar

Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:

President Trump departed the White House to spend the weekend in Palm Beach, Fla.

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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Gabbard moves to fire 100+ intel officers over explicit chat messages

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has moved to fire more than 100 intelligence officers over explicit chats they allegedly sent around in an internal agency messaging board. Gabbard, who was confirmed as the nation’s top intelligence official earlier this month, stated that …

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On Tap Monday

Events in and around the defense world:

Atlantic Council will discuss “The ramifications of renewed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” at 10 a.m.
The American-German Institute will host a conversation on “Transatlantic Challenges for the Next German Government,” at 10 a.m.
Hudson Institute will have a talk on “Reshaping the Middle East,” at 12 p.m.
George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs will hear from Croatian Amb. Pjer Šimunović at 5 p.m.
Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies will hold a discussion on “Iran and the U.S.: What Comes Next?” at 5:30 p.m.
Former National Security Council member Alexander Vindman will discuss his new book, “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine,” at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C. at 7 p.m.

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Meet the trans troops the Trump administration is barring (The New York Times)
DOD civilians ordered to respond to ‘what did you do last week?’ email (Military Times)
Joint Chiefs nominee’s ties to Trump family raise concern about ethics, influence (Military.com)

Trending Today

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

How the Trump, Zelensky meeting went off the rails

Efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine were left in tatters following President Trump’s confrontational White House meeting with Ukrainian … Read more

Zelensky won’t apologize for Oval Office spat, says it was bad for both sides

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wouldn’t apologize for the meeting with President Trump, which erupted into a remarkable and tense spat, arguing … Read more