Donald Trump's new two-word attack on Zelensky after White House bust-up

Donald Trump has continued his campaign of insults against Volodymyr Zelensky after their ill-tempered meeting in the Oval Office.

The US president told his Ukrainian counterpart he was "gambling with World War III" and said "you don't have the cards right now" during a furious rant in front of the cameras yesterday, which ended with Zelensky being forced out of the White House by Trump's aides. Zelensky landed in London today after ending his trip to Washington DC early, and spoke of "tough dialogue" with the US in a new statement. But Trump is yet to show any sign of reconciliation in the hours since the meeting, and appeared to double down with a new string of insults against Zelensky last night.

Donald Trump, speaking to reporters before boarding the Marine One presidential helicopter at the White House, said that Friday's talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy "did not work out great from his standpoint" and, in what was a clear attempt at mockery, branded him a "big shot". The 78-year-old, who has become increasingly aligned with the Kremlin in recent weeks, also claimed that Vladimir Putin "wanted peace" and suggested it was Zelensky who wanted the war to continue. He said: "I'm looking into getting into anything protracted, I want immediate peace, President Putin - he wants to end it. And you saw what I saw today, that's a man [Zelensky] who wants to get us signed up and keep on fighting. We're not doing it."

Trump also put renewed pressure on Zelensky to agree to a peace deal on his terms, or face a withdrawal of US support that would leave them at the mercy of a full Russian invasion. He said: "Either we're gonna end it, or let him fight it out, and if he fights it out it's not going to be pretty. Without us, he's not gonna win."

Volodymyr Zelensky has struck a different tone this weekend, and thanked the "American people" and leadership in new comments today. In a series of posts on X, the Ukrainian president said his people are "very grateful to the United States for all the support", and specifically thanked Mr Trump and Congress alongside the "American people". "Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: It's a historic and solid bond between our peoples. ... American people helped save our people," he wrote, adding: "We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them."