Fake Transcript Of Fiery Trump-Zelenskyy Exchange In Oval Office Goes Viral

An image claiming to show the transcript of the heated White House meeting between US president Donald Trump, vice-president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28, 2025, went viral on social media, purportedly showing Zelenskyy’s angry and sharp responses to Trump and Vance.

A transcript of the exchange in the viral image read:

TRUMP: You have to be thankful! We’ve given you a lot.
ZELENSKYY: Thankful? My people are dying. Our cities are burning. And you’re here demanding gratitude while threatening to cut us off?
TRUMP: You don’t have the cards right now.
ZELENSKYY: Because you held them. You delayed aid. You repeated Putin’s lies. You gave Russia an opening.
VANCE: Ukraine has to be realistic.
ZELENSKYY: Realistic? Russia is stealing our land, executing civilians, and kidnapping our children. What part of that should I be realistic about?
TRUMP: It’s gonna be very hard to do business like this, Volodymyr.
ZELENSKYY: Business? This isn’t a real estate deal. You can walk away. We can’t.
TRUMP: If I was president, this never would have happened!
ZELENSKYY: Because you would’ve just handed Ukraine over.

Trump-Zelensky Showdown at White House

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky were engaged in a public spat during a tense meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on February 28, 2025, where Trump rebuked his Ukrainian counterpart, telling him to be more “thankful” for US support and accusing him of “gambling with World War Three” by not going along with ceasefire plans led by Washington.

Fact Check

Newschecker first looked up the 49-minute 49-second meeting and its transcript that was available on C-Span, a public affairs TV network that covers the White House and national politics. At no point in the video nor in the transcript was there an exchange as seen in the viral image.

At the 45:39 mark, Trump does say, “You have to be thankful”, but he does not state, “We’ve given you a lot.”  Also, the actual transcript does not show Zelenskyy respond with, “Thankful? My people are dying. Our cities are burning. And you’re here demanding gratitude while threatening to cut us off?” He simply responds with “I’m thankful.” 

Similarly, Trump also does say, “You don’t have the cards right now,” as shown in the viral image, or variations of it, at multiple points in the meeting, but nowhere does Zelensky respond with, “Because you held them. You delayed aid. You repeated Putin’s lies. You gave Russia an opening.”

Also, Trump says at the 45:22 mark,, “It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you,” which is not the same as in the viral “transcript” that quotes Trump as saying, “It’s gonna be very hard to do business like this, Volodymyr.” According to the original transcript, Zelenskyy says “I said a lot of times, thank you, to American people,” in response to Vance stating, “Just say thank you,” contradicting the viral image.

A search through the transcript and video did not yield words or phrases such as “realistic,” “real estate” or ”delayed aid,” as shown in the viral image, further proving that it was fabricated.

We also came across transcripts of the meeting published by several media outlets, seen here, here and here, confirming that the viral exchange did not happen.

Also Read: Elon Musk’s Deepfake Videos on BJP-RSS Conspiracy in Arunachal Pradesh Debunked

Conclusion

A fabricated image claiming to show the transcript of the angry meeting between US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was shared as real.