Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had an angry exchange at the White House and footage of a wink from the US president to a right-wing media reporter suggests it may have been pre-planned
Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned over his clothing by Brian Glenn
Volodymyr Zelensky may have been the victim of a set-up at the White House with a wink from Donald Trump seen as proof.
The now infamous clash between the United States president and the Ukrainian leader saw Trump claim Zelensky was “disrespectful” and and “gambling with WW3” last Friday.
Right from the start Trump had sarcastically said he is “all dressed up” when he was awkwardly caught on mic as the two men met after Zelensky stepped out of his SUV and approached the West Wing entrance to the White House. “Yes I had to,” replied the Ukrainian leader.
And then it only got worse as members of the public watching saw Mr Trump’s usually orange-tinged face turn red as he and JD Vance rounded on their guest.
But the way that Zelensky was taunted has led to claims that he could have been ambushed and perhaps the giveaway was a wink to right-wing media reporter Brian Glenn who asked the Ukrainian why he was wearing a combat outfit – even though it is common for leaders to do so during peacetime.
First Glenn asked an easy question to the US president about his legacy and Trump replied: “I hope I will be remembered as a peacemaker… I am doing this to save lives… Thank you Brian for that question, it was a nice question…what was your second question?”
But then Glenn rounded on Zelensky: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You are at the highest level of this country’s office and you refuse to wear a suit, do you own a suit.” There was laughter in the room at the question including from JD Vance while Trump looked at him and appeared to give a sly wink.
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“A lot of Americans have a problem with you not respecting the dignity of the office,” the reporter persisted. And Zelensky replied: “I will wear [a] costume after this war will finish,” he told the reporter. “Maybe something like yours, maybe something better… Maybe something cheaper.”
With Trump also taking a dig at Zelensky from the start about his outfit, it has led to the question of whether it was a pre-planned ploy to wind up the Ukrainian leader who certainly appeared to become more irritated as the meeting went on.
The behaviour of the two leaders was dissected by body language expert Judi James speaking to The Mirror. She spoke of the sparring between the two and how initially there was a “ritual of friendship”. She said: “This extraordinary, furious argument kicked off after a long period of rituals of friendship bordering on the usual ‘bromance’ between Zelensky and Trump.
“Photos had emerged of the two men sharing laughter and some tactile rituals and even on the build-up to the fight they appeared relaxed and in tune enough to perform a little banter with one saying ‘yes’ while the other said ‘no’, but with their heads inclined inward together like a good-humoured double act.”
But Judi went on to explain their behaviour when they became more heated. She said: “Trump accused Zelensky of being ‘disrespectful of this country’ and as he did so his face performed a micro-expression of a wince or sneer of anger. Vance stepped back in to take over from his irate boss who was red in the face by this stage.
“Trump showed not only how he will head straight into a brawl and slug it out toe to toe but he did so with some asides to his ‘audience’ that seemed to turn the moment into his favour by showing ‘what I have to put up with’ from the Ukrainian leader.”
And she also referred to the “knowing wink” from Trump to suggest this may all have been an ambush. “The ending could easily have come with a walk-out by one or both parties. But instead, there were some curious by-lines from all three men at the end of their fight. Zelensky did a thumbs up to the camera while Trump performed a knowing wink,” she said.
“Both men have been TV stars, and it looked oddly as though they’d just gone off set from one of the rows they have in ‘Real Housewives of…’ and both wanted to show they were cool and still in good spirits. Vance walked over and patted Trump’s arm as though to say ‘Well done’.”
