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Agence France-Presse

As an impeachment storm rages in Washington, to say that Donald Trump’s tête-à-tête with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was hotly anticipated would be the understatement of the week.
And it delivered: their appearance before the media in New York was tense, bizarre and funny all at the same time.
On the right: Trump, 73, the one-time real estate mogul and reality television star, now the Republican president of the United States.
On the left: Zelensky, 41, a one-time comedian, now president.
In the middle: a giant arrangement of green and white flowers.

Trump met a dozen world leaders during his trip to the Big Apple for the annual United Nations General Assembly. But his handshake with the Ukrainian president was the only game in town on Wednesday.
Transcript of Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian president shows him offering US assistance for investigation into Joe Biden
A summer telephone conversation between the two men is at the centre of a political firestorm in the US capital, and prompted opposition Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry against Trump.
In his usual dark blue suit and red tie, Trump – literally sitting on the edge of his seat – was anything but relaxed.
Zelensky, sporting a three-piece black suit, seemed far less anxious and settled easily into his armchair.
The tension in the room was palpable, but the conversation started on a lighter note, and even seemed like a surreal comedy act.


“He’s made me more famous and I’ve made him more famous,” the billionaire Trump quipped at the start of the meeting, to laughs from the press corps.
“It’s better to be on TV than by phone,” Zelensky replied with a bit of a knowing grin, speaking in English, a language in which he was fairly comfortable.
“It’s a country, I think, with tremendous potential,” Trump said, using a phrase he has employed to refer to numerous nations, from North Korea to Iran.
“Yes, I know it, because I am from that country,” deadpanned Zelensky, who came to prominence playing a president on television.
Explained: how Ukraine found itself at the heart of the Trump impeachment scandal
Trump – somewhere between amusement and confusion – smiled.
Zelensky pressed Trump to commit to a visit to Ukraine, recalling – though visibly conscious of the sensitive nature of the comparison – that Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had never made the trip.
“Well, I’m going to try,” answered the cagey US president.
Zelensky recalled that Trump had invited him to Washington and then added with a smile: “I think you forgot to tell me the date.”

Finally, the tone got a bit more serious.
Zelensky, who was a teenager during Ukraine’s drive for independence in the early 1990s, hammered home what matters to him: “to stop the war in Donbass,” a separatist-held region in eastern Ukraine.
And then the journalists became part of the play, bombarding the two men with questions.
The tone shifted significantly.
Did the leader of the world’s only superpower put pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the family of Joe Biden, one of the Democrats vying to take on Trump in the 2020 election?
Impeachment in America: a look back at the famous cases
Zelensky hesitated and stammered before answering: “I think you read everything. (...) I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be involved in the democratic, open elections of (the) USA.”
Then he was more precise: “We had – I think (a) good phone call. It was normal. We spoke about many things, and … so I think, and you read it, that nobody pushed me.”
Trump chimed in: “In other words, no pressure”.
And then the Republican leader got angry.




After all, a single word – impeachment – had ruined his day in his hometown.
Was he angry about the potential miscalculation of releasing a memo detailing his conversation with Zelensky? Only time will tell.
But in the meeting with Zelensky, his frustration burst out in the open.
“We have corruption also, Mr President,” he told the Ukrainian.
“We have a lot of corruption in our government and when you see what happened with Hillary Clinton …” Trump said before launching into a list of his political enemies and their alleged wrongdoing.
And what about the role of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in his dealings with Ukraine? The president was steadfast.
“Rudy Giuliani’s a great lawyer, he was a great mayor. He’s highly respected,” Trump said.
When asked his thoughts about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats on Capitol Hill, Trump was unequivocal: “She’s lost her way, she’s been taken over by the radical left”.

“Nancy Pelosi, as far as I’m concerned, unfortunately, she’s no longer speaker of the House,” he added.
A few minutes later, in a brief exchange with journalists, Trump said his talks with Zelensky had gone well, and said the Ukrainian had cleared up the matter by saying he had not been pressured in any way.
In a press conference, Trump described the entire scandal surrounding the call as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt”.
The impeachment inquiry has only just begun.
Additional reporting by The Washington Post


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Donald Trump’s bizarre New York meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky: ‘I’ve made him more famous’

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands during a meeting in New York. Photo: AFP

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on September 24, 2019 shows a file photo taken on September 12, 2019 of Democratic presidential hopeful Former Vice President Joe Biden at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas,and US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, September 20, 2019. - Growing numbers of Democrats are calling for the impeachment of US President Donald Trump over allegations that he sought political dirt on his potential 2020 presidential rival, Joe Biden.The political scandal stems from a July 25, 2019 telephone call between Trump and Ukraine's newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who ran for office as an anti-corruption crusader and reformer. Trump has acknowledged urging Zelensky during the call to investigate the business dealings in Ukraine of Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, who is leading Trump in 2020 election polls. (Photos by Robyn BECK and SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in New York on September 25, 2019, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

epa07868670 A handout made available by the White House shows the page 5 of 5 of a declassified transcript of a phone conversation between US President Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 25 July 2019 (issued 25 September 2019). The release comes a day after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi faced increased pressure to begin an impeachment inquiry against Trump, with more democratic lawmakers saying they favor the move after whistleblower accusations against President Trump and his dealings with Ukraine. EPA-EFE/WHITE HOUSE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Transcript of Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian president shows him offering US assistance for investigation into Joe Biden

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is surrounded by reporters as she arrives to meet with her caucus the morning after declaring she will launch a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The declassified phone transcript, released by the White House,of a conversation between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from July 25, 2019 is seen in this photo illustration in Washington, DC on September 25, 2019. - The White House released a call transcript Wednesday confirming Donald Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart to probe his political rival Joe Biden -- a day after Democrats seized on the explosive allegation to launch an impeachment process. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 74th Session of the General Assembly during the United Nations General Assembly September 25, 2019. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

Explained: how Ukraine found itself at the heart of the Trump impeachment scandal

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2012, file photo, Hunter Biden waits for the start of the his father's, Vice President Joe Biden's, debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky. In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden was at the forefront of American diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine's fragile democratic government as it sought to fend off Russian aggression and root out corruption. So it raised eyebrows when Biden's son Hunter was hired by a Ukrainian gas company. President Donald Trump prodded Ukraine's president to help him investigate any corruption related to Joe Biden, now one of the top Democrats seeking to defeat Trump in 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AFP

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Trump opened his must-see-TV meeting with the Ukrainian president, a one-time comedian, with joke
The mood in the room soon turned more serious as Trump attacked his enemies



President Donald Trump opened his must-see-TV meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a self-aware joke: ‘He’s made me more famous and I’ve made him more famous’.


Donald Trump’s bizarre New York meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky: ‘I’ve made him more famous’

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Trump opened his must-see-TV meeting with the Ukrainian president, a one-time comedian, with joke The mood in the room soon turned more serious as Trump attacked his enemies

Trump opened his must-see-TV meeting with the Ukrainian president, a one-time comedian, with joke

The mood in the room soon turned more serious as Trump attacked his enemies