NEW YORK — Donald Trump said he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday as the foreign leader appeals to U.S. politicians for continued American aid against Russia’s invasion.
Trump said at a New York news conference that he plans to meet with Zelensky around 9:45 a.m. at Trump Tower. A person familiar with Zelensky’s schedule, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic encounter, confirmed the meeting.
The presidential election has major implications for the war in Ukraine, now in its third year. Trump has been deeply skeptical of U.S. involvement in Ukraine — a contrast to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, who have pushed for American aid. Trump often says he wants to strike a deal between Ukraine and Russia, and he has privately said he could end the war by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, people familiar with the matter previously told The Washington Post.
Trump, however, offered little detail for how he’d end the war on Thursday. Instead, he has repeatedly claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would have never invaded Ukraine if he were president. Trump has boasted about his relationship with Putin and has previously praised the Russian president, calling him a “genius” and “savvy.”
Trump suggested at other campaign stops this week that the U.S. had been overly generous to Ukraine. He accused Biden and Harris of “feeding Zelensky money and munitions like no country has ever seen before,” called Zelensky “the greatest salesman on Earth” and claimed Zelensky supports his Democratic opponents: “He wants them to win this election so badly,” Trump said.
The rare meeting comes two months after Trump and Zelensky spoke over the phone. Zelensky said in a statement at the time that he emphasized the importance of U.S. support for Ukraine and added that he and Trump agreed “to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.” Trump said afterward that he would “end the war” and that both sides would “negotiate a deal that ends the violence,” but did not elaborate on the terms he would accept.
At his Thursday news conference, Trump said Zelensky had requested the meeting with him. “It’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine — so many deaths, so much destruction,” Trump said. “It’s a horrible thing.” He went on to argue that European countries were not spending enough on the war in Ukraine compared to the U.S.
Republicans criticized Zelensky this week for appearing with Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, at a factory in the state that makes shells for Ukraine — a visit that GOP officials suggested was partisan. Zelensky also drew GOP ire by calling Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, “too radical.”
Trump said he looked forward to seeing Zelensky and reiterated that he thinks he can help strike a deal between Putin and Zelensky “quite quickly.”
A reporter asked what that would look like.
“I don’t want to tell you what that looks like,” Trump said.
Asked about Democrats’ criticism that Trump’s strategy is a concession to Russia, Trump said: “I don’t think so … I want to save lives.”
Trump has a complicated history with Zelensky. A conversation with the Ukrainian leader led to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. Trump had urged Zelensky to investigate Biden — then his political rival — and raised the possibility of a White House meeting, prompting a whistleblower complaint and an ultimately unsuccessful effort in Congress to remove Trump from office.
Trump began his New York news conference talking about immigration ahead of Harris’s planned visit to the southern border. He criticized her and Biden’s approach to the border and said anything Harris proposes should prompt the question: “Why hasn’t she done it, and why didn’t she do it almost four years ago?”
Harris has attacked Trump for turning Republicans in Congress against a bipartisan border security bill that she and Biden supported.
The border could be an even more important issue for Trump in the final stretch of the election as Harris has narrowed the former president’s advantage on another top issue: the economy.
Toward the end of Trump’s remarks, a reporter asked if he would pull his endorsement of Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina.
“I don’t know the situation,” Trump said.
Robinson was conspicuously absent from Trump’s North Carolina rally this past weekend after news reports tied Robinson to a porn site user who called himself a “black NAZI,” praised Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” detailed extramarital sex with his wife’s sister and made other inflammatory comments.
Robinson denied writing the posts, but the news has tanked his campaign and led to awkward questions for fellow Republicans.
Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.