Tense Trump-Zelenskyy White House meeting leave some in Bay Area ‘disgusted'

Reaction in the Bay Area to Friday's meeting with President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been swift and blunt.

Many in the region have been vocal supporters of Ukraine's efforts to defend itself after Russia's widespread attack on the country three years ago.

The world watched the tense five minutes, as negotiations soured between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance. The American leaders said Zelynskyy should be more thankful to the United States for its support.

"The president and the vice president didn't even let [Zelenskyy] talk," Ukrainian supporter Iryna Kwasny said of Friday's meeting between the leaders. "They berated him about not being grateful for the United States."

Kwasny, who said watching Zelenskyy's White House visit was painful, posted the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag outside her San Francisco home in February 2022, almost immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She also recently posted a protest sign in her window.

Neighbor Rik Myslewski was also shocked at the discourse during Friday's meeting in the Oval Office.

"I was disgusted," Myslewski said. "I'm an American voter! I'm a taxpayer. I'm a patriot! I'm a believer in American values."

What was at stake was an agreement with the United States to grant access to Ukraine's precious minerals mining rights in exchange for continued security support against Russia.

Instead, Zelynskyy left the White House without any signatures for that agreement and a threat by Trump to pull all United States support to the country. A White House official told NBC News that Trump and other officials asked Zelenskyy to leave.

Trump posted to Truth Social saying that saying that Zelenskyy "can come back when he is ready for Peace."

"It was very sad to see," said Iryna Anpilogova, a Palo Alto resident from Ukraine who also serves as the local president for the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.

In her view, Zelenskyy wasn't getting the security guarantees he wanted to protect his country.

"He was ready to sign, he was ready to negotiate, he was ready to say 'thank you,' but what happened today with all the accusation -- the reason why he reacted like this, he didn’t see enough meaningful security guarantees for Ukraine," Anpilogova said.

She added that she hopes this exchange at the Oval Office prompts more Americans to speak up to their leaders about the war in Ukraine.

"Because if Russia is not stopped now, the consequences could be really sad and unpredictable," she emphasized.

"It's very difficult to see the calculation or rationale behind possibly not signing the agreement and not continuing the aid," said Igor Markov, a Bay Area resident from Ukraine.

Markov works in several roles to provide nonprofit aid to Ukraine, including his work as a director at Bay Area nonprofit Nova Ukraine.

He said that Ukrainians, who have been hard hit by three years of war, are also facing shortages in resources after the Trump administration recently dismantled USAID. As a result, Nova Ukraine redirected $500,000 in bridge financing to stabilize programs impacted by the gaps in funding.

"We have already started providing bridge funding in some of those projects," Markov explained.

Markov said he hopes there is still time to work out an agreement between the US and Ukraine. This year, his organization is focusing on advocacy in Washington, D.C. to rally support for Ukraine as they believe "with the current political landscape in Washington, advocacy is becoming more important."

Nolan Higdon, a political science professor at California State University, East Bay, said the outcome of Friday's meeting sends a signal to American allies about a big change in what had been 80 years of support for countries that are threatened by enemies like Russia.

"Trump seems to be breaking with that tradition," Higdon said, adding the first word that came to mind when he watched the meeting was "instability."

In the South Bay, Congressman Sam Liccardo (D- San Jose) was quick to denounce Trump's actions Friday.

"It's a disgrace," Liccardo said. "The president is betraying the Ukrainian people, he's betraying many longstanding allies, and he's betraying our ideals and our fundamental values as Americans -- that we stand up for democracies."

Friday, many leaders of countries in Europe and around the globe took to social media to express their support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron was among those expressing support, noting "There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a victim: Ukraine."

Several Ukrainians in the Bay Area said that what happened Friday at the Oval Office left them concerned, not only for Ukraine but also for the state of global politics.

"We don't have to go too far in history to see how things can turn unfortunate very quickly," Markov said.