Tulsi Gabbard thanks Trump for ‘unwavering leadership’ in Oval Office clash with Zelenskyy

Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence, thanked President Donald Trump Friday for his “unwavering leadership” after his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in the Oval Office earlier in the day. 

“Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your unwavering leadership in standing up for the interests of the American people, and peace,” Gabbard wrote on X Friday evening, hours after the fiery exchange. 

“What you said is absolutely true: Zelensky has been trying to drag the United States into a nuclear war with Russia/WW3 for years now, and no one has.” 

Tensions increased during the Oval Office meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance about a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine after Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted and had breached other agreements.

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Trump and Vice President JD Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said the Ukrainian leader was in a “bad position” at the negotiating table. 

Donald Trump with Tulsi Gabbard at a campaign event in August.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“You’re playing cards,” Trump said. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.”

After Vance told Zelenskyy Ukraine had manpower and military recruiting problems, Zelenskyy said war means “everybody has problems, even you,” adding the U.S. would feel the war “in the future.”

“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump responded. “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”

Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House after the exchange, a press conference was canceled and a deal for Ukraine to give the U.S. its rare earth minerals was left unsigned. 

President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed in the Oval Office Friday.  (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)

Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for America’s help after the meeting.

“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” he wrote on X. “Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.” 

The Ukrainian president told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview after the meeting he believes Ukrainian-U.S. ties can be salvaged.

“Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents,” he said in the exclusive interview on “Special Report.” “It’s the historical relations, strong relations between our people. And that’s why I always began … to thank your people from our people.

Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House after the tense exchange in the Oval Office.  (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)

“Of course, thankful to the president and, of course, to Congress,” he said, “But, first of all, to your people … we wanted very much to have all this strong relations and where it counted. We will have it.”

Zelenskyy said he was “not sure we did something bad” when asked about the heated exchange but conceded the dustup was “bad for both sides.”

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Trump also received support from Republicans like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Trump was “standing up for America,” while Democrats like Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly wrote on X, “To be clear, the only winner in this shouting match in the Oval Office is Putin. Almost can’t believe this happened.”