Trump spoke to Putin at the end of a long afternoon of talks – and the result of that phone call is not one, but two meetings. Here’s how we got there
Donald Trump sitting round a table with eight European leaders to decide what to do about Vladimir Putin could be a “historic” moment, Keir Starmer said.
It’s certainly unprecedented. Nobody’s aware of a previous occasion where so many world leaders have met at the White House in this way.
And there was some hope early in the day – as Trump indicated there was wiggle room on protections the US would offer or support to Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
But then Trump wouldn’t stop talking about how much Putin REALLY wants a peace deal, and he’s totally into the idea of doing it for him.
And then he paused the meeting to get his buddy Vlad on the phone.
That phone call, it seems was to set up not one, but two meetings.
First will be a head to head between Putin and Zelensky.
After that will theoretically come the “trilateral” meeting, to also include Trump.
Here’s more on that, and how we got there.
READ MORE: Donald Trump caught on ‘hot mic’ saying what he really thinks about Vladimir PutinREAD MORE: Donald Trump floats idea of using a war to cancel US election and cling on to power
1. Two meetings agreed
After pausing the meeting together Putin on the blower, Trump treated us to a lengthy Truth Social post giving a readout of what they hashed out.
He said his sit-down with world leaders had been “very good meeting with distinguished guests”.
He went on: “During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.” More on this later.
And then came the important bit:
He wrote: “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky.”
That means a head-to-head sit down between Putin and Zelensky.
For what it’s worth, that’s a meeting I wouldn’t go within five miles of without wearing some heavy duty hazmat protection.
Then, Trump went on: “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
At the time of writing, no timeline or locations have been suggested for these meetings.
2. Zelensky came to play
If you want an indication of how much better prepared for this Volodymyr Zelensky was today than he was last time round, look no further than how he responded to this guy.
Brian Glenn, who comes to the White House to toss friendly questions on behalf of ‘Real America’s Voice’, an online channel, took aim at Zelensky not wearing a suit during his first visit to the White House.
Today, to the surprise of some, Ukraine’s leader arrived in Washington wearing a black button-up shirt and jacket.
And in one of three questions he was granted by Trump, Glenn – who is in a relationship with unhinged Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green – brought it up again.
“First of all, President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit,” he said. “You look good.”
Trump chimed in, saying: “I said the same thing. He’s the one who attacked you last time.”
“I remember,” he said.
“And you are in the same suit.
“You see, I changed. You have not.”
The publishing system here doesn’t let me use emojis, but if it did, there would be flames.
3. There could be US boots on the ground
Trump appears to be pushing the security guarantees for Ukraine pretty hard – presumably because he’s not managed to get Putin to back down on his demands of territory.
Asked if he would rule out such a deployment, the president said, “We’ll let you know that, maybe, later today.
“We’re meeting with seven great leaders of great countries, also, and we’ll be talking about that.”
“They’ll all be involved,” he added. “When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help.”
Asked about “Nato-like protection” for Ukraine – an idea that had been floated by his envoy Steve Witkoff – Trump said the US would “help them out with that”, referring to European leaders.
Trump said: “I don’t know if you define it that way, but Nato-like? I mean, we’re going to give, we have people waiting in another room right now, they’re all here, from Europe.
“Biggest people in Europe.
“And they want to give protection, they feel very strongly about it, and we’ll help them out with that.”
4. Trump now openly musing about cancelling 2028 election
As Zelensky answered a question about the difficulty of holding an election during Ukraine’s war with Russia, Trump openly mused about how a similar circumstance could allow him to stay in power in the US past the expiration of his current term.
“So let me just say three and a half years from now — so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy noted the difficulties of being able to hold elections during wartime, saying that a “truce” would be needed to do so safely.
Trump later went on a lengthy and meandering rant, claiming – without evidence – that postal votes are not widely used internationally, and are vulnerable to corruption.
5. He pointed out his gaudy post-shooting painting during the photo
While the European leaders were lined up for the “family photo”, Trump, out of nowhere, pointed them all to one end of the room.
“That was not a great day,” he said. “That was not a great day.”
He was pointing at a gaudy painting of himself, surrounded by secret service agents just after being shot at in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Everyone tried not to get distracted and looked back at the camera.
Everyone looked very stern in the pic. As “family photos” go, this one looked a bit “Dad’s just revealed he has a secret second family during Christmas Dinner.”
6. Trump keeps going on about how Putin really wants to make peace
Ahead of the roundtable meeting, as people were still milling around, Trump was caught on mic telling French President Emmanuel Macron how much Putin wanted to make a deal.
He was heard on an open microphone saying: “I think he wants to make a deal for me.
“Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds.”
Like someone trying to convince their best friend that their cheating husband has really changed this time.
Then, as the roundtable started, he provoked some remarkable “are you really saying this out loud” glares from Macron as he jumped in once again to plead Putin’s case.
“I think you’ll see that President Putin really does want to do something else,” he said to Zelensky about the man who invaded his country and has been killing his people for three years.
“I think when we set that up – and I think it will be when, not if – I think you’ll see some really positive moves.”
He went on to say Putin might be ready to release “over 1,000” prisoners “very soon, like immediately.”
7. We don’t really need a ceasefire, do we?
Trump, who just days ago was threatening “severe consequences” if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire, now seems very relaxed about the idea of not having one.
He said “all of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace”.
He added: “As of this moment, it’s not happening but president (Volodymyr) Zelensky and president (Vladimir) Putin can talk a little bit more about that, you know.
“The six or so wars that we stopped, we haven’t had a ceasefire, and so I don’t know that it’s necessary. You can do it through the war.
“I like the ceasefire from another standpoint – you immediately stop the killing – but I believe a peace agreement at the end of all of this is something that’s very attainable and it can be done in the near future.”
8. Trump couldn’t find the PM of Finland
As he was going round the table, which only had eight people at it, Trump got stuck.
“President Stubb of Finland,” Trump, 79, said.
“He’s uh, somebody that, where are we here? Huh?”
Stubb, sitting directly across from Trump at the table, barely a few feet away, said: “I’m right here.”