Columnist Marc A. Thiessen became the latest ally of Ukraine to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky either fix his relationship with Donald Trump or step down.
The fallout from Zelensky’s disaster meeting Friday with Trump and JD Vance has led to many of the biggest pro-Ukraine voices connected to Trump to demand Zelensky change.
Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham – who visited Zelensky nine times during the war – have said they believe he no longer has a tenable position.
Thiessen – a former George W. Bush speechwriter and pro-Ukraine voice – has added his name to the list with an op-ed titled: ‘Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump – or resign.’
‘The blowup was Zelensky’s fault,’ he wrote, saying that Trump ‘greeted Zelensky graciously’ and downplayed previous arguments the pair had.
Trump’s commitments to Ukraine and refusing to insult Zelensky for not wearing a suit ‘should have been music to Zelensky’s ears.’
Instead, he chose to attack President Trump’s wish for a ceasefire, leading to a shocking meltdown.
Thiessen asked: ‘Why on earth did Zelensky choose to fact-check Trump in front of the entire world rather than debate the wisdom of a ceasefire behind closed doors?’
Columnist Marc A. Thiessen became the latest ally of Ukraine to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky either fix his relationship with Donald Trump or step down
The fallout from Zelensky’s disaster meeting Friday with Trump and JD Vance has led to many of the biggest pro-Ukraine voices connected to Trump to demand Zelensky change
‘This should have been a backslapping, feel-good meeting celebrating the minerals deal. Instead, Zelensky hijacked the meeting, jumping in when he was not asked a question, looking for opportunities to interrupt and make his points,’ Thiessen wrote.
He also slammed Zelensky for refusing to apologize in a Fox news interview later Friday evening and further, said he should have not left the White House until he mended fences.
‘Zelensky does not have the luxury of getting emotional on the world stage. Europe does not have the military capabilities Ukraine needs to survive. Ukraine cannot have a president who is not on speaking terms with the president of the United States,’ Thiessen said.
He wrote that due to his inability to manage ‘his country’s relations with Trump,’ he has to either apologize or go.
‘Right now, Zelensky is refusing, insisting he did nothing wrong. That is not sustainable. Either Zelensky needs to apologize and mend the breach, or he needs to step down and allow someone else to do it. ‘
The tense war of words played out inside the Oval Office Friday and quickly went off the rails when Trump took offense of how Zelensky treated his vice president JD Vance in front of the cameras.
Rubio hinted that Zelensky owes the president an apology and found his behavior leading up to the Oval Office blowout unacceptable.
‘You guys only saw the end, you don’t see all the things that led up to this. The president’s been very clear on this, he campaigned on this. He thinks this war should have never started and I agree that had he been president it never would have happened,’ Rubio stated.
Marc A. Thiessen – a former George W. Bush speechwriter and pro-Ukraine voice – has added his name to the list with an op-ed titled: ‘Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump – or resign
Thiessen slammed Zelensky for refusing to apologize in a Fox news interview later Friday evening and further, said he should have not left the White House until he mended fences
‘Now here we are, he’s trying to bring an end to this conflict, we’ve explained very clearly what our plan is here: we want to get the Russians to a negotiating table, we want to explore whether peace is possible,’ he added.
Rubio’s contention was that what happened in the ten days leading up to today’s meeting led to a ‘predictable outcome’ and the meeting didn’t even have to happen, claiming they were only here to sign the deal for minerals.
‘Apologize for turning this thing into the fiasco that it became,’ he said, in reference to Zelensky.
‘Don’t come here and create a scenario where you’re going to start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn’t going to work. Zelensky took it in that direction and it ended in a predictable outcome as a result.’
Graham has visited Ukraine several times – as recently as last year – and has been one of the Republican Party’s biggest cheerleaders for American support of the war, even meeting with the president minutes before his showdown with Trump and JD Vance.
Speaking to Fox News amid the fallout, Graham said he was ‘devastated’ at what took place.
‘Everything I and many have been working for to try to get a new relationship with the United States around our critical minerals deal was completely obliterated today,’ he said.
He said he’d ‘warned’ Zelensky to ‘be grateful’ and ‘be thankful’ to Trump when they met, then asked a shocking question.
In an effort to shift the blame away from Trump and Vance, whose aggression has provoked an international outcry from even the US’s closest allies, Rubio hinted that Zelensky owes the president an apology and found his behavior leading up to the Oval Office blowout unacceptable
‘The question for me is: is he redeemable in the eyes of Americans? Most Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelensky to be their business partner, including me.’
After meeting with Trump, he said the choice was clear for the beleaguered Ukrainian president.
‘He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,’ Graham said.
Zelensky refused to apologize and said he wants Donald Trump to be ‘more on our side’ during his first major interview since the blowup.
The Ukrainian president, speaking to Fox News, was asked point blank if he owed Trump an apology and twice filibustered before refusing and instead attempting to be gracious and added ‘I’m not sure we did something bad.’
‘We’re thankful to Americans for all your support, you did a lot, I’m thankful to President Trump and Congress’ bipartisan support,’ Zelensky said.
‘You helped us a lot from the very beginning, you helped us to survive. We are strategic partners.’
When asked again, he refused again and tried to explain his own position.
Graham has visited Ukraine several times – as recently as last year – and has been one of the Republican Party’s biggest cheerleaders for American support of the war, even meeting with the president minutes before his showdown with Trump and JD Vance
‘We have to be honest and we have to be direct with each other. Nobody wants to finish more than we because we are in this war, in this battle for freedom for our lives,’ he said.
The Ukrainian leader said he needs Trump to be ‘on the same side’ and needs him to stop Vladimir Putin.
‘I want President Trump to be more on our side,’ he said when Baier asked if he felt it was okay for Trump to be ‘in the middle’ of negotiations.
‘Trump said he will stop the war and I hope he will. We need to pressure him with Europe.’
Zelensky then attempted to quote former President Ronald Reagan in saying what he wanted in a deal.
‘Peace is not just the absence of war. We are speaking of a just, lasting peace,’ he said.
Zelensky also said that Trump was lying when the president said that he wants to go back into the White House and have a do-over right now.
‘No. First of all, we want peace, that’s why we are in the US. The deal on minerals is the first step to security guarantees, it’s the first step closer to peace. We have a tough situation, to understand it is to be in Ukraine,’ he said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to apologize in his first major interview since his disaster brawl and public meltdown with Donald Trump and JD Vance
He added: ‘But I respect my soldiers and our people, our civilians who work and support our warriors. I can’t just say stop because everyone is afraid that Putin will come back tomorrow.’
Zelensky added that he respects Trump and the American people but reiterated that he felt he was being honest.
‘I think this kind of spat is not good for both sides. I can’t change our Ukranian attitude to Russia. They are killers for us. This is very clear that Americans are the best friends, Europeans are the best friends. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want peace, we recognize the reality of the situation.’
He also said that his country wants peace and diplomacy and said they are willing to negotiate, going against what Trump said that he wants to ‘fight fight fight.’
‘Ukraine wants peace and we will have diplomacy, we will have negotiations. It’s about just and lasting peace, we have to be very strong at the table of negotiations,’ he said.
Baier asked him lastly if his relationship with Trump was repairable after this mess.
‘Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents. It’s strong relations between our people and that’s why I always thank your people from our people.’