Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson shared his thoughts on President Trump’s heated Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Moderator Kristen Welker asked Johnson what he thought about comments by Sen. Lindsey Graham—a once staunch supporter of Ukraine on the Republican side—in which he said that for Ukraine-Russia peace agreements to occur, Zelensky may need to resign.
“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again,” Graham said on Friday. “He [Zelensky] either needs to resign, and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”
Johnson seemed to agree that “something has to change” in order for peace to occur.
“Either he [Zelensky] needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country to do that,” Johnson told Welker.
At the same time, Johnson maintained that Republicans do “understand” that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “dangerous adversary” to the U.S., and that the U.S. is “not abandoning Ukraine.”
He also remained firm on his position that the potential U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal—the discussion of which was the original intent of Trump and Zelensky’s Oval Office meeting on Friday—would be “a win for everyone.”
Johnson continued: “It will give us access to rare earth minerals that we need, and it will provide a level of security for Ukraine.”
U.S. lawmakers have had varying reactions to Trump’s exchange with Zelensky, and the subsequent souring of U.S. and Ukraine relations.
The discussions come after Zelensky’s own comments at a press conference on Feb. 23—prior to his and Trump’s pivotal meeting, but amid rising tensions —that he would be ready…
