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Crossed Arms & Sulky Threats: Decoding Trump-Zelensky Oval Office Slugfest

Donald Trump asked Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to leave the White House grounds and return when he's "ready for peace" following an intense verbal blowout between them in the Oval Office on Friday.

Sparks flew between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House because they each had different expectations of what would happen at the meeting, Dr. Carole Lieberman, board-certified psychiatrist and best-selling author, told Sputnik.

Check out the insight:

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington.

Trump

1. “TOOK UP A LOT OF SPACE, with arms and legs open wide towards Zelensky, indicating that he was open to hearing what Zelensky had to say and expected the visit to be positive”

2. “was expecting Zelensky to be thankful and humble. So, when Zelensky turned out to be more demanding and aggressive, it alienated Trump”

📹 FULL VIDEO OF HOW TRUMP AND VANCE DESTROYED ZELENSKY pic.twitter.com/ACnk9ZcMqI

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 28, 2025

© AP Photo / Mystyslav ChernovVice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington.

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington.

Zelensky

1. “arms were crossed and he SEEMED TO SHRINK as the meeting wore on and he realized he wasn’t going to get his way, like he was used to with Biden”

2. “was used to interacting with President Biden, who just kept giving him the money he asked for each time. He wasn’t expecting President Trump to be so much stronger and determined to make peace”

“Finally, when Trump’s frustration got to the boiling point, he told Zelensky to leave,” said Lieberman.