Furious Dems attack Trump, Vance after explosive Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy: ‘Siding with dictators’

Congressional Democrats expressed immediate outrage at President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s explosive White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, which ended with Trump asking him to leave. 

“Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said on X in response to Vance telling Zelenskyy his behavior was disrespectful and Trump saying he was “gambling with World War III.” 

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This combination of pictures created on February 25, 2025, shows US President Donald Trump (L) on Feb. 24, 2025, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) on Feb. 23, 2025.  (Getty Images)

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it “would’ve been a show of strength” if Trump engaged with Zelenskyy “in a dignified way.” 

“But you would never know that after President Trump’s shameful display. Putin must be overjoyed with today’s theatrics,” she said on X. 

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-IL, claimed the Ukrainian president is owed an apology, noting, “Ukrainians have fought tooth-and-nail on the frontlines of democracy against Russian aggression.” 

“Pres. Trump and VP Vance’s words to Pres. Zelenskyy are rude and utterly shameful,” he wrote. 

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“Trump berates Zelensky, the leader of a democratic country courageously fighting Russian imperialism, while he allies himself with Putin, a dictator who started the bloodiest European war in 80 years,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT.

“Sorry, President Trump. We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism.”

TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE

President Donald Trump (C) and Vice President JD Vance meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Getty Images)

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., posted on X, “A hero and a coward are meeting in the Oval Office today. And when the meeting is over, the hero will return home to Ukraine.” 

Zelenskyy joined Trump and Vance in the Oval Office to discuss a path for peace between Russia and Ukraine, which remain at war after the former invaded its neighbor in 2022. However, the discussion quickly devolved into chaos as the Ukrainian president challenged his U.S. counterparts in front of the press. 

“Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance replied to Zelenskyy after he pushed back on the notion of engaging in diplomacy to end the war. 

The Ukrainian president then departed the White House at the request of Trump, without signing an agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in exchange for the financial support the U.S. has given Ukraine since 2022, as part of a negotiated peace deal. 

Trump and Zelensky were involved in an Oval Office shouting match on Friday. (Fox News )

Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., said she was “horrified” by the exchange, adding, “It is stunning that the US is now siding with dictators and not standing up for freedom, democracy, and global stability. I’m deeply concerned for the people in Ukraine and our country’s long-term national security.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, told Vance in an X post, “Shame on you,” for asking whether Zelenskyy had thanked the U.S. 

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“Answer to Vance: Zelenskyy has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly. And our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe,” she wrote on X. 

“Watching Trump and Vance serve as Putin’s mouthpieces in the Oval Office was one of the most shameful moments in American diplomacy,” remarked Rep. Mark Takano, D-CA, who called for every Republican to “publicly condemn it.”