08 19 25 iHeartRadio reporter Jon Decker on the Trump–Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On Colorado's Morning News. President Trump yesterday's You May Be
Where met with Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky and European allies
at the White House in an attempt to bring an
end to the Russian Ukraine.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
War and joining us now on the Kyway Common Spirit
Health hotline is White House correspondent with iHeartRadio, John Decker,
who was with President Trump at the time. John, thank
you so much for your time. As always, tell us
a little bit about what we saw yesterday. Was there
a dramatic difference between the blow up meeting that we
saw between Trump and Zelenski back in February to what
we saw yesterday.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well, huge difference between those two meetings. And you know,
the President and President Selenski clearly have patched things up
after that meeting that took place in the Oval Office
back on February the twenty. If you know, they've met
a few times. That famous photograph I think that took
place during the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican,

(00:51):
that one on one meeting that the President had with
President Zelensky. Look, the President has really worked awfully hard
trying to reach a piece. He met with President Putin
in Alaska on Friday, having this meeting with President Zelenski
in the Oval Office. Yesterday I was in Alaska. I
was in the Oval Office, and then also having that
meeting with all of those European leaders in the East

(01:13):
Room as well, trying to get everybody on the same page.
What comes next. The President spoke about this idea of
a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky, or perhaps what
he called a trilat, a trilateral meeting involving Zelenski, Putin
and also President Trump serving as the mediator.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
I know that the President called Vladimir Putin about the meeting,
any idea what he shared with him, well.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
I think what he shared with him is the areas
in which all of those European leaders are on the
same page and sharing with them that there is no
going back from where they stand concerning security guarantees once
a piece is in place. That's certainly one idea. The
other we don't know what was said with President Trump

(02:00):
and President Zelensky as far as potentially territorial concessions that
Zelensky is willing to make, and that's important, you know,
in order to get to a peace deal. There needs
to be a give and take by both Ukraine and Russia.
And that's what the president. That's the hard part. That's
what the President's trying to work on right now.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Unknowns when it comes to tertorial concessions, Do we have
any knowns? When it comes to the specifics of US
security guarantees that Trump indicated.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Specifics know But I think that one thing is very clear.
The President has made this clear from the start. There
will be no American boots on the ground ever in Ukraine.
The President will certainly support efforts by what the Europeans
call the Coalition of the willing countries like the UK, France,

(02:49):
Germany who are willing to put their forces in place
to make certain that Russia does not try to enter
into Ukraine's territis sovereign territory in the future once a
peace deal is reached, and that's important to get the
US behind that. Those security guarantees is what President Zelenski

(03:10):
has been seeking.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, and you highlighted that because Russia continued at tax
on the country when they were trying to do that meeting, John,
Where does it stand at this point? What are the
next steps?

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Well, next steps is figuring out when, where, and the
format for the next meeting that takes place. And I
don't have an answer to that. I think that the
President has been working the phones trying to figure that out.
You heard Zelenski yesterday. He pretty much said anywhere, any place,
willing to meet with food anywhere, any place. And you
know that's important. You know that's one party that needs

(03:43):
to end the war, saying I'm willing to meet with
food anywhere, any place, and so we'll have to see.
I would not be surprised if something happens in a
relatively short period of time, given how quickly everything has
happened over the course of the past few weeks. Keep
in mind the President at meeting with President Zelenski just
three days after he met with President Putin and Anchorage elast.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
H iHeart White House correspondent.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
It's John Decker.