Trump's First Words to Zelensky Outside of White House: 'He's All Dressed Up'

President Donald Trump greeted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday making reference to his outfit. "He's all dressed up today," he told press covering the meeting before the two entered the building. Neither responded to shouted questions.

Trump anticipated the signing of a "very big agreement" between the U.S. and Ukraine on Friday. The deal, centered on U.S. access to Ukraine's rare minerals, marks a significant development and is seen by observers as a first step toward potentially ending the war with Russia.

Speaking during his first cabinet meeting this week, Trump praised the negotiators involved in crafting the agreement and emphasized its financial benefits for the U.S. "The previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we've been able to make a deal where we're going to get our money back and we're gonna get a lot of money in the future," Trump said.

While an earlier U.S. request for $500 billion in potential revenues from Ukraine's natural resources has reportedly been dropped, Kyiv's push for security guarantees as part of the deal remains unresolved. Zelensky has stressed the importance of including at least a "sentence" on security assurances, but Trump reiterated that such commitments should come from Europe, Ukraine's "next-door neighbor." Both Trump and Zelensky are expected to hold a press conference after their meeting.

Tensions rose over the past weeks as Trump and some top officials openly voiced their frustration with Zelensky, with the president even calling him a "dictator without elections." After the matter was seemingly solved, Trump was asked by a reporter if he still believed Zelensky was a dictator. "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that," Trump responded.