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Vice President JD Vance has described his explosive Oval Office confrontation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “probably the most famous thing I’ve ever done, or maybe ever will do.”
Vance laughed as he made the comments on the New York Post’s Pod Force One, confirming that U.S.-Ukraine relations are “much more productive” since the February showdown.
- JD Vance calls his heated Oval Office showdown with Zelenskyy the most famous thing he's ever done or may ever do.
- Vance says U.S.-Ukraine relations have become much more productive since the viral February confrontation.
- During the clash, Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for past U.S. support and urged diplomatic solutions.
- Trump supported Vance in the incident, accusing Zelenskyy of risking World War III and lacking leverage.
The interaction between Vance and the Ukrainian president went viral after a meeting in the White House became heated in front of the world’s media.
JD Vance said shouting at Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the most famous thing he’s done
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“That was six [eight] months ago,” Vance told Post columnist Miranda Devine. “We have turned over a new leaf.”
“We’re trying to have productive relationships with both the Ukrainians and the Russians, because we want to end this conflict, and I think the president has a very good working relationship — and so do I — with all the parties involved,” Vance added.
Zelenskyy was meeting with President Donald Trump on February 28 to discuss a minerals deal when he clashed with Vance and a shouting match ensued.
It came after Vance told a reporter that Ukraine and Russia should pursue a diplomatic resolution, going on to accuse the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for past U.S. support.
J.D. Vance described his exchange with Zelensky in the Oval Office as “the most famous thing he has ever done and maybe ever will do.”
Vice President of the United States of America had his moment of fame yelling at his guest in the White House🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/MnisO2tHio
— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) October 29, 2025
Trump backed up his second-in-command during the confrontation, shouting at Zelenskyy that he didn’t “have the cards right now” and accusing him of gambling with World War III.
“I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media … you should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict,” Vance told Zelenskyy at the time.
Reflecting on his comments to Zelenskyy, Vance told Devine: “If you go back to that moment, I was getting frustrated because I perceived some rudeness.
“I think the takeaway from that for me, but also I think for any foreign leader who comes to the Oval Office, in particular … you try to basically respect the rules of the house that you’re in,” he added.
🚨BREAKING: Zelensky, Trump, and Vance erupt in an argument in the Oval Office in front of the press
Incredibly tense scenes. pic.twitter.com/Rk4kLds2dj
— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) February 28, 2025
“If you’re going to disagree … you can do it in a particularly productive way, or you can do it in an unproductive way.”
Vance continued: “I actually think airing everything out, doing it in public, actually articulating where there were disagreements and where there were common interests, actually was pretty productive.”
Trump’s stance on the war in Ukraine has changed back and forth in recent months, with him at points telling Zelenskyy to cede territory and at other times saying Ukraine could claim back all of its land.
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy met Trump at the White House to ask for permission to buy long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that can strike deep into Russian territory.
Vance said relations between the U.S. and Ukraine are much better
Image credits: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images
Trump denied the request, and sources said the meeting descended into a shouting match reminiscent of the Vance-Zelenskyy showdown in February.
While Trump denied the Tomahawk request, he did sanction two of the largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, last week.
Vance would not comment on what might come next for Russia and Ukraine, but was more hopeful than he had been previously.
Image credits: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“If you asked me six months or so ago, I would have said, ‘They’re never going to stop fighting. This is going to be like Russia’s Vietnam, 15 years later, they’re still going to be fighting,’” Vance said.
“If you asked me a month ago, I would have said we’re making incredible progress [toward peace].”
“It’s hard to venture a prediction, but I do think that we have reached the point of diminishing returns for both sides.”
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