By Tammy Mutasa
February 28, 2025 / 11:20 PM EST / CBS Boston
A meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended with an unprecedented clash in the Oval Office Friday afternoon.
The explosive public confrontation was unlike any in recent memory. It’s now being remembered as a consequential day in history for presidential historians like Boston University Professor Tom Whalen.
“This is going to be a day that historians remember and will remember as a day of infamy. Where the United States abdicated its post-World War II role as the defender of freedom around the world,” said Whalen.
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Experts say President Trump and President Zelenskyy are supposed to be allies over a common enemy, Russia, but that was thrown into question.
“If you had to summarize that meeting in four words I would say, ‘make Russia great again’ because this meeting definitely helped Vladimir Putin and his plans for expansion in Europe,” said Whalen.
Stocks fall, bounce back
As for the immediate fallout, right after the meeting, stocks dropped sharply on the New York Stock Exchange but bounced back again.
“Which I think suggests that the markets view what happened today as yet another day in the saga of Donald Trump,” said WBZ News Political Analyst Jon Keller.
Keller says Trump supporters might view the circus as part of his toughness, no nonsense brand.
“There’s a new leader in the White House who has much different priorities than the last administration. He wants peace. He wants the war to end,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The Trump Administration has been aggressively aligning itself with Russia and with Russian interests, to the consternation of our allies,” Keller said. “That’s risky business politically and again depending on how things shake out could have long term political consequences.”
Tammy Mutasa joined WBZ-TV as a multi-skilled journalist in January 2023.
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