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President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out the possibility of Ukraine winning the ongoing war with Russia.
Trump, speaking during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office, said Ukraine is in big trouble.
The meeting, which was expected to focus on the restoration of peace between Ukraine and Russia, descended into a heated exchange.
Angered by a comment from Zelensky, Trump said, “Your country is in big trouble, you are not winning this.”
The U.S. President raising his voice, added, “You’ve done enough talking. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us.”
The Ukrainian leader was in the United States to sign the minerals deal with President Trump.
It has now been confirmed that the formal agreement will not go ahead for the time being.
President Donald Trump declined to tell reporters whether he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to leave the White House after their Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match earlier on Friday afternoon.
“I don’t have to tell you that,” he told a reporter when asked if he told Zelensky to leave. “I think I think you know the answer to that.”
CNN had earlier reported that Trump ordered the Ukrainians to leave the White House early after the tense exchange. The two leaders did not hold the joint press conference, as was scheduled, and they also did not sign a natural resources agreement.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has reversed an obscure requirement called the Richardson Waiver, which requires a period of notice and an opportunity for public comment on a wide range of decisions related to “agency management or personnel or to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts.”
The Richardson Waiver has been in force at the department since 1971 and imposes notice-and-comment periods above and beyond those required under something called the Administrative Procedures Act.
It also says HHS should only make decisions without public notice sparingly.
