Donald Trump may have lost a valuable gift brought to the White House from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the Ukrainian President.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump met in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 to discuss the ongoing war with Russia, and to finalize their Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement.
The meeting, broadcast on live TV, turned into a heated conversation as Vice President J.D. Vance accused Zelenskyy of not showing gratitude. Trump also told Zelenskyy that he was risking World War III, and the meeting ended without the mineral resources agreement being finalized.
Well, Zelenskyy revealed another awkward footnote to the stunning Feb. 28 meeting in the White House: Trump and his administration apparently misplaced a gift that he brought to the White House.
Zelenskyy is close friends with Ukrainian boxer and world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. In a new interview with Simon Shuster of Time Magazine, Zelenskyy said he brought Usyk’s championship belt to the White House with the idea of handing it to Trump.
Zelenskyy initially gave Donald Trump photos of Ukrainian prisoners who were in Russian captivity. The meeting escalated from there, and Zelensky thus couldn’t formally present the title belt to Trump.
To make this even more baffling, Zelenskyy told Shuster he’s unsure what happened to Usk’s championship belt:
“A few days later, as we stood near the doorway of Zelensky’s office, I wondered what had happened to the championship belt. Did he have a chance to give it to Trump, or did he bring it home after the meeting? “I don’t know,” Zelensky told me. “Maybe it’s still sitting there.” In the confusion that followed their argument, he left it on the side table next to the sofa. Later that day, once the Ukrainians had gone, a member of the White House staff found the belt and took it to Trump’s private dining room, where it now sits with other souvenirs, a memento of failed diplomacy.”
Well, let’s hope the Trump administration does the right thing by giving the championship belt back to its rightful owner.
Donald Trump Is The Oldest U.S. President To Enter Office
Trump was sworn in as the new President of the United States on Jan. 20, becoming just the second POTUS to serve non-consecutive terms (joining Grover Cleveland).
At 78 years and 220 days of age, Trump also became the oldest American president to assume office. That broke the record previously held by Joe Biden, who was 78 years and 61 days when he entered office.
