Trump-Zelenskyy clash: Sky News correspondents' views

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have clashed in the White House, with the US president telling his Ukrainian counterpart: "You're gambling with World War Three."

Mr Trump also told Mr Zelenskyy "you either make a deal or we are out."

"Don't tell us what we're going to feel," he said. "We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel, because you're in no position to dictate that exactly. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel."

Ukraine latest: Trump says Zelenskyy disrespected US and can come back when he's ready for peace

Here is a look at what Sky News' correspondents thought of the extraordinary exchange.

Dominic Waghorn, international affairs correspondent

European leaders will be looking at tonight's spectacle in the White House in horror. Their approach has been to look on the bright side and hope wooing and flattering Donald Trump will bring him round on Ukraine.

Only those in the room will know for sure, but from where the rest of us were sitting, this looked very much like a deliberate ambush, led by the vice president JD Vance.

The Oval Office was reduced to a reality TV show. It seemed like the kind of orchestrated pile-on only Jerry Springer or Jeremy Kyle could be proud of.

If that is the conclusion of European allies, their choice is stark. Rise to the moment, accept America has become a rogue, unreliable ally under Mr Trump and do what they can to protect Ukraine, or watch themselves and Ukraine be picked apart by greater powers.

It is a moment of destiny for Europe that Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and others have been putting off arguably for too long, unwilling to accept their transatlantic partner cannot be trusted.

It must be repeated that neither Mr Trump nor Mr Vance have yet uttered a word of criticism for Vladimir Putin. They seem to like and respect him as do their cohorts on the far right of American politics.

If that is the case Ukraine now has only Europe to rely on. Is Europe up to the challenge?

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Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

The fiery and very public bust-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a disaster for Ukraine and its European allies and a triumph for Russia.

The spectacle of the US president berating his Ukrainian counterpart and telling him he is gambling with World War Three - played out on television in the Oval Office - was hard to witness.

Mr Zelenskyy - looking increasingly uncomfortable - decided to fight back. He likely felt he had little choice but to defend himself and his war-torn country.

But this act of defiance drew even more condemnation from Mr Trump as well as from JD Vance, who also started attacking the Ukrainian leader.

It is hard to imagine a greater contrast from the chummy scenes between Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump and the scolding language used by the American president against Mr Zelenskyy, at times addressing him as though he were a naughty school boy.

Ukraine's president, his arms crossed, tried his best to speak up, but he was clearly fighting a losing battle. The extraordinary breakdown is far more serious than just a made-for-television drama.

American support for Ukraine is critical if Kyiv is to withstand Russia's war. The UK, France and Ukraine's other European allies have been working overtime to try to keep Mr Trump on their side.

The US president has vowed to end the war and has started talks with Vladimir Putin. The two presidents also plan to meet. That alone was hard for Ukraine to witness.

But the Ukrainian side has attempted to work with Washington rather than against it, including by being willing to part with profits from its minerals and other natural resources in return for locking Mr Trump into a long-term partnership with Ukraine.

That all looks to be shattered - or at best is in serious jeopardy.

If Mr Trump, in anger, withdraws all of his military support to Ukraine, Kyiv's ability to withstand Russia's military will be seriously diminished.

The Europeans lack the capability to fill the void. The only person who wins in this scenario is Mr Putin.

David Blevins, Sky correspondent, in Washington

Donald Trump said it would make "great television".

It certainly didn't make for great diplomacy. Quite the opposite.

The gulf between the United States and Ukraine laid bare on camera around the globe.

The niceties in the Oval Office came to an abrupt end when Mr Trump said he wasn't aligned with either Ukraine or Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned how diplomacy would work when Vladimir Putin "breaks ceasefires".

Vice president JD Vance accused him of being "disrespectful" by trying "to litigate this in front of the American media".

It went from bad to worse when Mr Zelenskyy replied: "You have a nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future."

Mr Trump retorted: "Don't tell us what we're going to feel… you're in no position to dictate that.

"You don't have the cards right now… you're gambling with the lives of millions of people… you're gambling with World War Three… and what you're doing is very disrespectful to this country."

You could have cut the atmosphere in the West Wing with a knife as the back-and-forth continued for several minutes.

It brings the flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington this week to a disastrous conclusion.

The French president had flattered Trump with words, the UK prime minister stepping up the charm offensive with a letter of invitation from the King.

But Mr Zelenskyy, who looked like a man with the world on his shoulders, had chosen not to ignore the elephant in the room.

Instead, he continued to demand security guarantees from the United States as part of any ceasefire.

The hostile words culminated in a moment unprecedented in living memory - the Ukrainian president leaving the White House and being told not to return until he's ready to make peace.

Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

Like everywhere else, Moscow will have watched this exchange open-mouthed - stunned by its implications. But while jaws will still be on the floor in Europe, here in Russia they're already grinning from ear to ear, because it really couldn't have gone any better for the Kremlin.

Not only was Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly humiliated by the leader of the nation on which Ukraine's future depends, the attack read like a script written by Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian leader was accused of "forcing conscripts to the frontline", of taking foreign leaders on a "propaganda tour" and even "gambling with World War Three". They are phrases one hears on Russian state media on an almost daily basis.

Under the Biden administration, that kind of language was aimed at Mr Putin, but this was an illustration of how Mr Trump has turned everything on its head and Russia's president is the beneficiary.

When it was Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer in the White House earlier this week, there was a sense of anxiety coming from the Kremlin. On both occasions, Mr Putin felt the need to make public overtures towards Washington, as if to remind Donald Trump of what Russia has to offer, betraying a fear that he may be vulnerable to the other side of the argument.

Well there's definitely no anxiety now - instead Moscow appears to be gloating.

"Historic," was the one-word reaction from Kirill Dmitriev, the Harvard-educated head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, who was in Riyadh last week for the first meeting between Russian and US officials.

And the reaction from Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hinted at how Russia might use this going forward.

"It's a miracle of restraint how Trump and Vance restrained themselves and didn't punch this scumbag," she wrote on Telegram, full of flattery.

Expect Moscow to dial up the charm offensive, giving Mr Trump the "respect" he accused Mr Zelenskyy of lacking. The aim will be to make tonight's spat a permanent separation.

(c) Sky News 2025: Trump-Zelenskyy clash: Sky News correspondents' views