A cousin of US Vice President, JD Vance, has openly criticised him and President Donald Trump for what he described as “belittling” Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a tense Oval Office encounter in February.
Nate Vance, who spent three years volunteering with the Ukrainian military following Russia’s full-scale invasion, told the BBC, “There’s a certain level of decorum that I expect from political leaders, especially in front of cameras.”
He had earlier accused both Trump and Vance of acting like “useful idiots” for Russian President Vladimir Putin in their handling of the conflict, a claim that adds further weight to the controversy surrounding the administration’s stance on Ukraine.
Speaking to the BBC’s PM programme on Monday, Nate Vance said he was “not happy” with how the White House meeting had unfolded.
“I’m kind of attached to the Ukrainian issue but, looking at that, if it were some other completely neutral issue and I saw White House officials and hack journalists that are political belittling a foreign leader, I’d be like ‘what the hell is going on?’”
The Oval Office meeting, which was broadcast live, escalated quickly. Trump reportedly threatened to withdraw US support unless a deal was struck, accusing Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War Three”.
Vice President Vance also weighed in, criticising Zelenskyy as “disrespectful” for “litigating” the matter in front of the press and accusing him of failing to properly acknowledge America’s support during the war.
Nate Vance rejected that claim, saying, “Zelenskyy does a daily or nightly address and thanks everyone who supports Ukraine on a daily basis.”
He further remarked that while Zelenskyy may not have shown “enough deference to Donald Trump”, it was “odd for my cousin and Donald Trump to ask for deference because they’ve been actively working against his initiatives for the past three years”.
The fallout from the meeting was swift. Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House and a scheduled joint news conference was abruptly cancelled. Shortly afterwards, the Trump administration suspended military aid, satellite imagery and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
The controversy deepened when an American reporter criticised Zelenskyy’s attire during the meeting, claiming he disrespected the occasion by not wearing a suit.
Since the war began, Zelenskyy has adopted military-style dress as a sign of solidarity with Ukrainian troops.
“Everyone knows that’s why he does that and it’s kind of a symbolic thing,” Nate Vance said. “Who cares? It’s a silly hill to die on. And speaking of which, why is Elon Musk in the Oval Office wearing a baseball hat and a T-shirt all the time?”
In an interview earlier on Monday with French newspaper Le Figaro, Nate Vance described his cousin as a “good guy, intelligent”, but labelled the meeting with Zelenskyy as “an ambush of absolute bad faith”.
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He admitted that his criticism was unusual given his political leanings. “I’ve been a Republican my whole life so this is an odd stance for me to be taking but I’m pretty passionate about it and it’s one issue where I think we’re doing wrong.”
He added that he did not expect his cousin would want to speak to him again following the public remarks.
Reflecting on broader American sentiment, Nate Vance suggested that 20% of Americans would be “disheartened” by the encounter, warning that growing alienation could have grave consequences.
“All of this alienation is isolating us and the last time we decided to take an isolationist path we ended up with World War One and World War Two.”
Zelenskyy has since described the heated exchange as “regrettable” and called for efforts “to make things right”.
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