During an August meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump reportedly interrupted discussions to make remarks about “beautiful” women from Ukraine and then arranged for former Miss Ukraine to speak with the Zelensky over the phone, according to a new report.
Just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the U.S. president met with Zelensky and seven other European leaders in the Oval Office, where discussions about the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia took a more lighthearted turn.
Amid conversation, Trump reportedly interjected that “Ukrainian women are beautiful,” citing his time overseeing the Miss Universe pageant, according to the New York Times.
Shortly thereafter, Trump called his friend, American businessman Phil Ruffin, who is married to former Miss Ukraine Oleksandra Nikolayenko, to have her speak with Zelensky for 10 to 15 minutes. Although the sudden phone call was unexpected, it reportedly brought Trump closer to Zelensky. “The room went on pause as the two spoke in Ukrainian,” the report stated.
One official who was in the room told NYT that Trump’s sudden maneuver away from peace talks changed the “temperature” of the room.
“Everyone laughed. What it did was create a human connection. It was kind of a mind meld. It humanized Zelensky with Trump,” the unnamed official claimed.
The anecdote is among many reported by NYT as part of an in-depth report about the Trump administration’s journey trying to strike a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine over the last year.
The report details how Trump and his team have sought to deliver peace between the two countries, which have been embroiled in a bloody war since February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Over the course of several months, the administration has tried to get Putin to meet them at the negotiation table while trying to convince Zelensky to concede more than he anticipated.
At the start of Trump’s second term, he appeared more sympathetic to Putin. In February, Trump’s less-than-warm feelings toward Zelensky were put on full display during a televised Oval Office meeting when he and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president in front of reporters.
But over time, the president has seemingly warmed up to Zelensky – and the August Oval Office meeting appeared to be somewhat of a turning point.
In September, approximately one month after the amicable Oval Office meeting, Trump called Zelensky a “great man” at the United Nations General Assembly and reportedly discussed providing Ukraine with weapons – signaling a policy change by the administration.
Then, on Truth Social, the President said he believed that “Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
One adviser suggested that the president’s sudden change in public affection toward Zelensky, which surprised even those close to him, may have been a strategy to “shock” Russian officials.
Trump insisted that peace was ““closer than ever before” after hosting Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, even suggesting “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed.” However, both presidents admitted that several issues, namely Ukrainian land, still need to be ironed out. Trump also said he had an “excellent,” two-and-a-half hour conversation with Putin before meeting with Zelensky, according to the Associated Press.
