Vance Reveals His Patronizing ‘Icebreaker’ to Zelensky
Vance, who had attacked the Ukrainian president during February’s Oval Office meeting, joked that he better “behave.”
JD Vance began Monday’s Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky with an icebreaker, given February’s combative encounter.
The vice president told Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle Wednesday that he said to the war-time leader in front of his aides: “Mr. President, so long as you behave, I won’t say anything.”
“And he just chuckled a little bit, and it was a good little icebreaker,” claimed Vance, who—along with Trump—berated Zelensky earlier this year for what he viewed was an insufficient expression of gratitude for American war aid.
Vance was later mocked as a man-child, European allies defended Zelensky en masse, and Russia’s leaders rejoiced over the confrontation. Six months later, Vance parroted his boss’s assessment that it was “good TV.”
Monday’s meeting was more cordial. The sit-down followed last Friday’s non-breakthrough summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and came before Trump’s talk with key European allies at the White House.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Vance on Wednesday credited Trump with “cut[ting] through the B.S. of many diplomatic protocols” during that gathering by calling Putin right afterward.
Trump on Monday hosted Zelensky for a bilateral meeting and later an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
When Trump announced his intentions, European leaders assumed he meant several days later, Vance said.
“He was like, ‘No. What time is it in Moscow? Let’s call him right now,’” according to Vance. “One of the things I have realized about President Trump’s leadership is he cuts through the B.S. of some of these diplomatic protocols and just says ‘I’m going to get things done. If I want to talk to somebody, I’m going to talk to somebody’.”
Vance, whom Trump has given a larger role in working on a peace deal, added: “And I think that kind of no holds barred, no B.S. diplomacy is part of the reason why we have made the progress we have. And we’ve made a lot of progress.”
After Friday’s summit with Putin, neither leader offered specifics about what was achieved.
Vance said the president has acknowledged there is no certainty about the outcome of negotiations until it’s done.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.