President Donald Trump has turned Oval Office meet and greets with foreign leaders — once expected to be brief, generally dull if cordial photo ops for the press — into WWE-style smackdowns to very publicly dress down foreign leaders for slights, real and perceived.
In the past, the media were ushered into the Oval Office when the president was meeting with a foreign leader for a few minutes at most. The so-called “photo spray” conversations in front of the assembled press corps would be polite, sometimes even bordering on dull. If extended interactions with the press were planned, a press conference would be set up in one of the larger rooms of the White House.
Now, the Oval Office has become the site for Trump to berate foreign leaders and reporters at length, perhaps most famously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February and most recently the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in an eye-catching new style of foreign policy.
These are the most prominent Oval Office showdowns of Trump’s second stint in the White House so far:
The Zelensky meeting
Some observers believed the wartime leader had walked into a trap. Zelensky had arrived at the White House at a perilous moment. Trump had indicated that he would be willing to cut off American support for the former Soviet republic, at the three-year point of its defense against the invasion of its much larger neighbor. The Ukrainian president, more than 30 years Trump’s junior, had hoped for a friendly conversation and, at best, a reaffirmation of American support. He got the opposite.
It has become the Oval Office meeting that all other meetings are compared to. Zelensky had arrived at the White House to discuss plans for peace, but the working lunch planned for the world leaders was canceled after an acrimonious showdown.
In a public confrontation not seen before between an American president and a foreign leader, Trump and Vice President JD Vance slammed Zelensky for supposedly not being sufficiently grateful for U.S. support and pressured him to make a peace deal on terms decided by the U.S.
Trump threatened to end American support for Ukraine’s war effort if Zelensky didn’t follow his lead. Trump canceled the rest of the meeting after reporters left the Oval Office after close to an hour.
Vance attempted to interrupt Zelensky, calling him “disrespectful” and demanding that he thank Trump.
“You’re not really in a good position right now,” Trump told Zelensky.
“You’re gambling with World War III,” he added.
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” said Trump. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out, and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
South Africa accused of genocide against white farmers
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was caught in a similar ambush on Wednesday, when Trump falsely accused his country of being guilty of persecuting white farmers, which the president claimed amounted to genocide.
However, it appeared that Ramaphosa knew what he was in for. He was accompanied in the Oval Office by his white agricultural minister in his multiracial coalition government. He had also brought in golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to placate Trump.
But Trump still darkened the room to play a video of rightwing propaganda about South Africa. “Death, death, death,” said Trump as he showed articles about the killings of white Afrikaners. Most victims of violent crime in the country are Black.
Ramaphosa pushed back on Trump’s outlandish claims but didn’t resort to anger, instead going for patience as he tried to explain the underlying facts to the president. But Trump was unmoved.
“They’re being executed, and they happen to be white, and most of them happen to be farmers,” said Trump. “I don’t know how you explain that.”
King of Jordan pushed to accept Gazan refugees
In February, King Abdullah of Jordan squirmed beside the president as Trump pressed him to accept refugees from the war in Gaza.
Abdullah noted that the Arab world is opposed to Trump’s stated plan at the time to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and redevelop the area.
“It’s not a complex thing to do. And with the United States being in control of that piece of land, a fairly large piece of land, you’re going to have stability in the Middle East for the first time,” said Trump.
Abdullah indicated that other plans for the area were in the works.
“I think we have to keep in mind, there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries,” he said. “I think the point is, how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he added.
Attacking reporters
Trump has also used the Oval Office to attack reporters during the lengthy sessions with world leaders.
During the meeting with Ramaphosa, Trump took aim at Peter Alexander of NBC News, calling him a “jerk” and an “idiot” after the journalist asked about a $400 million jumbo jet from Qatar the Pentagon recently accepted and which will eventually be bequeathed to a Trump library, raising ethical questions.
“Why are you talking about that? What are you asking that for? You know, you oughta get out of here,” said the president.
“What does this have to do with the Qatar jet?” Trump added. “They’re giving the United States Air Force a jet. Okay? And it’s a great thing.”
Calling Alexander a “terrible person,” the president went on to tell him, “You don’t have what it takes to be a reporter. You’re not smart enough.”
As Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had his turn in the Oval Office last month, Trump went after CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for asking why his administration was defying a Supreme Court order in a deportation case. Collins asked why the administration had not adhered to the order to bring back Maryland resident and Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported.
“You said if the Supreme Court said someone needed to be returned, you’d abide by that,” asked Collins.
“Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?’” he said. “That’s why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility.”
World leaders resort to gifts and flattery to avoid Trump tantrums
Those looking to avoid a Trump tantrum may deploy gifts and flattery towards the president. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pulled out a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump for a second state visit. He noted what a great honor it was for Trump, who had already gone on a state visit to see the late Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spent more than 20 hours preparing for his meeting with Trump, coming to the meeting with charts showing Japan’s investments in America using visual aids that Trump is said to enjoy. Ishiba also brought a golden Samurai helmet for the president.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron managed to correct Trump without setting off the president, putting his hand on Trump’s arm during his February visit and correcting him on the notion that European countries have simply “loaned” money to Ukraine.
“No, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60 percent of the total effort,” said Macron.
A meeting that was expected to be more contentious but which took a more conciliatory tone was that between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Amid threats of annexation against the neighbor to the north, Carney said, “There are some places that are never for sale. Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign … it’s not for sale, won’t be for sale ever.”
“Never say never,” said Trump. Carney simply turned to the cameras and mouthed “never, never.”
