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President Hilariously Clowns The Press At Mar-A-Lago Meeting

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Donald Trump
Photo Credit: Flickr, by Gage Skidmore

President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago, where he hilariously jabbed at the press about bribing them with lunch.

Trump hosted Zelenskyy on Sunday at his Florida residence to discuss a proposed peace framework aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, which began with Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.

As the two leaders arrived at the club and greeted reporters, Trump projected confidence that the negotiations were moving in a productive direction.

“We do believe that we have the makings of a deal that’s good for Ukraine, good for everybody,” Trump told reporters, adding that it was “very important” and that “there’s nothing more important in my book.”

The meeting brought together senior figures from both sides, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, as advisers gathered around a long rectangular table for discussions.

At one point, Trump shifted his focus away from the policy details and toward the assembled members of the White House Press Corps, who had been observing the session.

“I think you could sit outside and have some food,” Trump told reporters.

He then followed with a pointed question that drew laughter from the room.

“Would you like to have some food, or would you consider that a bribe, and therefore you cannot write honestly, or therefore you have to write a bad story?”

As chuckles rippled through the group, Trump continued pressing for a response. “Would you like something to eat at this time, yes or no?” he asked. “You could speak.”

When one reporter answered, “Yes sir,” Trump directed a staff member to act immediately, telling them to “tell the chef to serve them a little lunch.”

The exchange prompted several people in the room to thank the press for their coverage, though Trump continued to needle reporters moments later.

“That should guarantee you good stories, but it won’t,” Trump said to his advisers. “It’ll only get worse. They’ll go out of their way to make them worse.”

Despite the lighthearted interruption, the meeting focused heavily on the substance of a potential peace agreement.

Following the talks, Trump and Zelenskyy appeared together at a joint press conference, where both leaders said progress had been made on a 20-point peace proposal backed by Ukraine, while noting that additional work remains.

“Our meeting was excellent, we covered — somebody would say 95 percent, I don’t know what percent — but we have made a lot of progress on ending that war,” Trump said.

Trump also found time during the press conference to highlight his surroundings, remarking on Zelenskyy’s reaction to Mar-a-Lago.

“He walked in and said this place is gorgeous,” Trump said of the Ukrainian leader.

“I don’t think he wants to go to the White House anymore, that’s the problem.”

Zelenskyy responded quickly, saying, “I’m ready for the White House.”

As laughter followed, Trump added that “the White House is a very special place.”

The president also revisited the earlier lunch moment, turning again to humor while addressing Zelenskyy.

“I hope you enjoyed the food! Your people enjoyed the food, I can tell you that,” Trump quipped.

“Your big strong people… Your General over there looks like central casting!”

After the meeting, Zelenskyy said negotiators had reached agreement on roughly “90 percent” of his 20-point peace framework.

“We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework … [the] 20-point peace plan [is] 90 percent agreed,” Zelenskyy said while standing alongside Trump.

The proposal was drafted after the Trump administration put forward a separate 28-point plan last month.

Under Zelenskyy’s framework, Ukraine would receive security guarantees from the United States and European partners, along with a defined path toward eventual European Union membership.

The plan would also allow Ukraine to maintain its armed forces at current levels of approximately 800,000 troops.

Fighting in the Donetsk region would be halted along existing battle lines, with Ukrainian and Russian forces pulling back to establish a demilitarized zone overseen by internal forces.

Similar withdrawals would take place in Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The proposal also calls for Russian forces to withdraw from Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv.

Zelenskyy’s framework includes a major reconstruction component, calling for $800 billion in assistance to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy following the war.

The Ukrainian president said the U.S. delegation agreed “100 percent” with the portions of the plan addressing security guarantees, adding that the United States, Ukraine and European countries were “almost” aligned on joint guarantees.

Following their meeting, Trump and Zelenskyy participated in a phone call with European leaders to discuss next steps.

Zelenskyy also said that a related prosperity plan aimed at rebuilding Ukraine is “being finalized.”

Trump said negotiations have accelerated significantly over the past month and suggested talks are further along than at any previous point in the conflict.

“We’ll see if it gets done, but it’s very close, certainly,” Trump said.

He cautioned that a small number of difficult issues remain unresolved. “We could be very close,” Trump remarked. “There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we’re doing very well.”

“We made a lot of progress today, but really, we’ve made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process. It’s very complicated stuff.”

Zelenskyy echoed that assessment, noting that negotiators have largely settled on the framework of a deal after weeks of sustained diplomacy.

He pointed to meetings held in Geneva, Miami, Berlin and Palm Beach as part of the ongoing effort to align positions.

He said the U.S. and Ukrainian sides agreed to reconvene in the coming weeks to finalize unresolved matters, with Trump potentially hosting talks in Washington involving European leaders and a Ukrainian delegation.

Trump also addressed the possibility of traveling to Ukraine if a peace agreement is finalized.

“I’d have no problem with doing it, I have no problem with doing — it would — don’t anticipate it,” Trump said.

“Would like to get the deal done and not necessarily have to go. I’ve offered to go and speak to their parliament and — you know — if that would help.”

Zelenskyy later said Trump would be “welcome” to address the Ukrainian parliament. Trump shot back, “Yeah, I know.”

Trump concluded his public remarks by pointing to polling he said shows strong support for ending the war and reiterated his desire to bring the conflict to a close.

“We want to see it ended,” Trump said. “I want it ended because I don’t want to see so many people dying. We’re losing massive numbers of people – the biggest by far since World War II.”

Watch the full press conference here:

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