Vice President JD Vance opens up about the heated meeting involving President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 'Hannity.'
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NewsTranskript
00:00Mr. Vice President, thank you for being with us.
00:02Good to see you, man.
00:03Great to be here.
00:04Let's go back to the Oval Office.
00:05Friday.
00:06Yeah.
00:07From your perspective.
00:08Yeah.
00:09Great TV.
00:10That's what the President said.
00:11Yeah.
00:12Well, you know, it's funny.
00:13So, we have a 40, 45-minute press conference.
00:15And the President normally does this, and I've seen this now three or four times with foreign
00:18leaders where he likes to bring the media in, likes to have a conversation, but answer questions
00:22with the press.
00:23As you know, he's very open with reporters.
00:25And what I noticed is that for the first 25, 30 or so minutes, he tried to sort of
00:30bend over backwards to be gracious and kind to Zelensky.
00:33Even when Zelensky was kind of needling him, even when Zelensky was saying things that
00:37I thought were untrue, the President just tried to be diplomatic, right?
00:42I think that's his natural instinct in that situation.
00:45And then when it really went off the rails, of course, is when I asked, or you had a Polish
00:50journalist who asked a question.
00:53The President answered it, and then I answered it, and then something about my answer just
00:57really set Zelensky off.
00:59So then he came at me.
01:00So you're blaming yourself.
01:01And then I went back at him.
01:05And what I tried to do originally was actually try to diffuse the situation a little bit,
01:10because I'm like, you know, we're having this meeting, obviously there are 100 television
01:13cameras here, let's try to have this conversation in private.
01:17And then the President, as we kept on going back and forth, I tried again to say, well,
01:22maybe we should have this conversation in private.
01:24And the President was like, nope, actually, I don't want to have it in private anymore.
01:28I want to have this actual conversation in public for the American people to see.
01:32And I do think that there was just a certain sense of, there was a lack of respect, there
01:36was a certain sense of entitlement.
01:38And most importantly, look, we can look past all that stuff, but the President has set
01:42a very clear goal for his administration.
01:44He wants the killing to stop.
01:46And I think that it's very important that President Zelensky and, of course, President
01:49Putin, too, they've both got to come to the negotiating table, and that's ultimately where
01:53things broke apart.
01:54I really don't care what President Zelensky says about me or anybody else, but he showed
01:59a clear unwillingness to engage in the peace process that President Trump has said is the
02:04policy of the American people and of their President.
02:07That's the real breakdown, is I think Zelensky wasn't yet there, and I think, frankly, now
02:11still isn't there, but I think he'll get there eventually.
02:14He has to.
02:15My understanding is he tried to get back in, or tried to stay a number of times, and
02:19then made numerous calls to come back.
02:22Is that true?
02:23I don't know about numerous calls, but they certainly made at least one request to come
02:27back in and continue the conversation.
02:29The President was like, look, first of all, they were disrespectful, and second of all,
02:32what are we even going to talk about?
02:34They've shown a clear unwillingness to discuss the peaceful settlement that President Trump
02:38is trying to bring to this situation.
02:40I think a lot of Americans are sort of, you know, it's useful to step back and ask ourselves,
02:45what is the actual plan here?
02:48You can't just fund the war forever.
02:50The American people won't stand for it, and by the way, Sean, if you look at European
02:54opinion polls, the Europeans aren't going to stand forever for it either.
02:58We need to bring this thing to a peaceful settlement.
03:00The President was trying to do that.
03:02He'll continue to try to do that, but you've got to have two to tango.
03:05You've got to have a negotiating partner and the Ukrainians who recognize that, you
03:09know, of course they have their views, and of course they're not always going to agree
03:13with us, but they've got to participate in the conversation.
03:16They weren't willing to do that on Friday, so the President said send them home.
03:19He said today that the war, he expects, will go on a very long time.
03:23I don't know where he's going to get the money to fund that war.
03:25I have my doubts that Europe will fund the war to the level that Biden and Harris were
03:29funding it, and then the issue now has come up whether or not this administration will
03:35continue to offer money and arms for this war to continue, because without America,
03:41I would argue the President was right in saying they have no courage.
03:44Yeah.
03:45Well, Sean, I think our European friends, frankly, are being really, really, they're
03:49doing a disservice to the Ukrainians because their own populations are saying we're not
03:53going to fund this war indefinitely.
03:55The American people are saying we don't want to fund the war indefinitely, so the only
03:59thing that is in the best interest of America, of Russia, of Ukraine, and of Europe is to
04:04bring this thing to a close.
04:06What happened, Sean, is you have Zelensky.
04:08He goes to Europe, and a lot of our European friends puff him up.
04:11They say, you know, you're a freedom fighter.
04:13You need to keep fighting forever.
04:14Well, fighting forever with what?
04:16With whose money, with whose ammunition, and with whose lives?
04:20The President is actually taking a much more realistic perspective and saying this can't
04:24go on forever.
04:25We can't fund this thing forever.
04:27The Ukrainians can't fight forever, so let's bring this thing to a peaceful settlement.
04:31When I interviewed Zelensky, he wouldn't give me direct answers.
04:34I asked him about the mineral deal to pay the U.S. back.
04:37To me, there's three phases in this, and my understanding was Friday was supposed to
04:41be relatively ceremonial.
04:43It was.
04:44And that it was supposed to be, we signed the mineral deal, that's part one.
04:48Part two would be a ceasefire.
04:50Part three would be the hardest part, the negotiated settlement with Putin, who, correct
04:55me if I'm wrong, said he's willing to talk peace with Trump.
04:58Yeah, he said he's willing to talk peace, and of course we trust but verify.
05:01We want to have the conversation.
05:03We don't assume that everything that anybody tells us is true.
05:06That's why we want to engage in this conversation.
05:09But you're exactly right, Sean, when the Ukrainians came to Washington on Friday, it was supposed
05:14to be ceremonial.
05:15You know, there had been some public back and forth, some disagreements, some words
05:19spoken in public, and the President was like, let's have this moment.
05:23We give some credit to the brave Ukrainian fighters, and of course it's a very brave
05:27army that they have there in Ukraine.
05:29Let's sign this minerals deal, which importantly does two things.
05:32It allows the American people to get some of their money back, but it also shows the
05:36Ukrainian people that America has a long-term investment in their sovereignty.
05:41You do those things, we'll sign this thing, we'll have a rah-rah moment, and then we'll
05:45get to the tough talk of negotiating peace.
05:48We couldn't even get the Ukrainians to a point where they could talk about the peaceful
05:52settlement.
05:53And look, in some ways, Sean, I get it.
05:55I get the frustration.
05:56I get the rage.
05:57It's their country, of course.
05:58It's not our country.
05:59But you've got to accept, cooler heads have got to prevail.
06:03This thing cannot go on forever.
06:06This is the important point.
06:07I'd say this to our, of course, most importantly, the Americans who are watching, but people
06:11all over the world.
06:13When you talk to leaders in private, whether they're Ukrainian or European, when you talk
06:17to people in private, they will tell you this cannot go on forever.
06:22There aren't enough Ukrainian lives, there isn't enough American money, and there isn't
06:26enough ammunition to fund this thing indefinitely.
06:29The only realistic pathway to bringing this thing to a settlement is President Trump's
06:33pathway.
06:34We encourage both President Zelensky and President Putin to follow that path.
06:38Well, I mean, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent, and this came up in the discussion
06:43Friday.
06:44The Biden administration called Putin every name in the book, and they've been trying
06:47to get the president.
06:48And he's still invaded anyway.
06:49Okay, he's still invaded anyway.
06:51Well, remember, it depends if it's a minor incursion.
06:54Let's go back to that moment, which I thought, as troops were amassing on the border.
06:59I go back and I think about this, and Biden spent all of this money, called Putin all
07:05these names.
07:06The media and the Democrats, they want Donald Trump to call him names.
07:11And the president addressed that.
07:12It's the craziest thing.
07:13And then he's supposed to call him and say, Vladimir, are you ready to talk a piece now?
07:17That's not going to work.
07:18No, it's diplomacy one-on-one, right, is you have to have a reasonable relationship with
07:23somebody to be able to even start the conversation.
07:27You have to remember, Sean, Ukraine, half of the country, a third of the country is
07:31totally destroyed.
07:32The economy is depressed.
07:34You've got hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainians.
07:37Of course, a lot of dead Russians as well.
07:39The president wants to negotiate a settlement.
07:42How can you negotiate if you can't even talk to somebody?
07:45And that's what he said.
07:46He's not saying, like, nobody's suggesting, as Secretary Rubio said, nobody's suggesting
07:51that we give the Nobel Peace Prize to Vladimir Putin.
07:54What we're saying is it's important for President Trump to be able to have a conversation.
07:59That's not well served by standing up at a press conference and calling the guy every
08:04negative name in the book.
08:05By the way, as you just said, President Biden called Putin every single name in the book.
08:11What did it lead to?
08:12It led to war.
08:13It led to destruction.
08:14It led to conflict.
08:15President Trump is trying to bring this thing to a close.
08:17You've got to be able to talk to somebody to do that.
08:20Is the door open?
08:21President Trump said Friday he can come back if he wants peace.
08:25Is that door still open today?
08:26What President Trump has said clearly and consistently is, of course the door is open
08:32so long as Zelensky is willing to seriously talk peace.
08:36You can't come into the Oval Office or anywhere else and refuse to even discuss the details
08:41of a peace deal.
08:42Look, this is not going to make anybody happy.
08:45The Russians are going to have to give up stuff.
08:47The Ukrainians are going to have to give up stuff.
08:49You can't come to the Oval Office and say, give us security guarantees.
08:52We won't even engage with you about what we're willing to give up.
08:56That's been the Ukrainian posture.
08:58When that posture changes, as President Trump said, when they're willing to talk peace,
09:02I think President Trump will be the first person to pick up the phone.
09:04Well, I've got to imagine that they're probably rethinking it.
09:07What did you make of European leaders, quote, their voices of solidarity this weekend?
09:12Because it's Lindsey Graham who's been very supportive of Ukraine in this conflict.
09:16I mean, he was livid.
09:18Yes.
09:19And he said, if they want to now defend their own continent, let them go ahead and do it.
09:22Good luck to them.
09:23Yeah, and my message to Ukrainians, by the way, to President Zelensky is, when you've
09:27lost Lindsey Graham, that means you need to come to the negotiating table and recognize
09:31Donald Trump is the only game in town.
09:34He's the only person who I think has a meaningful plan to save that country.
09:38But, you know, Sean, here's the problem with the Europeans.
09:41And a lot of these guys are our friends, they're our allies.
09:45We, of course, you know, the president has a great relationship with a lot of European
09:48heads of state, and so do I.
09:50But they need to be realistic.
09:53And the craziest part about this, Sean, is that sometimes you'll have European heads
09:57of state who in public will puff up their chest and say, we're in it with President
10:02Zelensky for the next 10 years.
10:03And then in private, they'll pick up the phone and say, this can't go on forever.
10:08He has to come to the negotiating table.
10:09So I honestly don't care what the Europeans say in public.
10:13What I care is what they say in private.
10:15And what they need to be saying to President Zelensky is, this can't go on forever.
10:19The bloodshed, the killing, the economic devastation, it's making everyone worse off.
10:25The only pathway, I think, back to peace and prosperity is what the president is trying
10:30to accomplish.
10:31And now we look back in time and we see Joe Biden was beginning to understand that the
10:34patience of the American people is running thin.
10:37That's right.
10:38Hundreds of billions of dollars.
10:39We're a nation with nearly 40 trillion in debt.
10:41I mean, it's too much.
10:43Well, Sean, it's an important point, though, because I was a United States senator for,
10:45of course, for the last two years of the Biden administration.
10:48I got elected in 2022.
10:49I think you like this job better?
10:50I think I like this job a lot better.
10:51I certainly like the president a lot better.
10:53And here's the thing.
10:54You know, when you would talk to the Biden administration officials in private, it's
10:58another example of a terrible situation.
11:01The Biden admin left the Trump administration.
11:04When you ask them, what's the plan?
11:05OK, we're going to spend tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars
11:08in Ukraine.
11:10What is your plan?
11:11And they would honestly tell you, well, we're just going to send them weapons for as long
11:14as we can and hope eventually they can turn the tide.
11:18Hope is not a strategy.
11:20Throwing money and ammunition at a terrible conflict, that is not a strategy.
11:24The only guy in town with a strategy is the president of the United States, and everybody
11:28needs to follow his lead.
11:29What scares me is Zelensky, when he says it's going to go on for years, how many more lives
11:34are going to be lost?
11:35He's not going to have a country to save at the end of that.
11:37The minerals deal would have provided the monies to rebuild their country and a strong
11:42U.S. presence and maybe European troops as well.
11:45And this is an important part of it.
11:46The president knows that, look, if you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually
11:51ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee
11:58is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.
12:03That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that
12:08hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years.
12:11The security guarantee and also the economic guarantee for Ukraine is to rebuild the country
12:17and ensure that America has a long-term interest.
12:20You're not going to do that if you come to the Oval Office, insult the president and
12:23refuse to follow his plan for peace.
12:26If he called, and I hate hypothetical questions, forgive me.
12:30If he called tomorrow and said, I am ready to adopt your plan for peace, he can come back?
12:34I think that if he called and had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in
12:38the process, look, there are details that really matter that we're already working on
12:42with the Russians.
12:43We've already talked with some of our allies.
12:45He needs to engage seriously on the details.
12:47I think once that happens, then absolutely we want to talk to Ukraine.
12:50Are you convinced Putin and the Russians are willing to meet them, I don't want to say
12:55the word, halfway, they're willing to do their part to achieve a negotiated settlement?
12:59Am I convinced?
13:00No.
13:01But do I think that there's a real pathway?
13:03You've got to trust but verify.
13:04You've got to engage in the negotiation.
13:06You've got to see what steps people are willing to take.
13:08This is another thing, Sean, obviously I'm biased because I really love the guy.
13:12But when the media attacks President Trump as somehow on the side of Putin, two big problems
13:19with that.
13:20First of all, the only president in 20 years where you haven't had the Russians take a
13:24bunch of territory was under the first term of Donald J. Trump.
13:28The second part of that is you've got to actually accept that President Trump, he's
13:33not just assuming that everything the Russians tell him is true, he's negotiating with them.
13:38There's a give and take.
13:39There's a trust but verify.
13:41That's called diplomacy.
13:42We used to have some respect for that in Washington, D.C.