How the lack of a Zelensky suit may have fed the oval office dispute

It was the first thing President Donald Trump said when the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, left his car in the White House on Friday.

“They are all dressed today,” Trump said as he greeted him, referring to Zelensky’s military -style black sweatshirt, adorned with the Ukrainian trident.

Zelensky has avoided costumes, shirts and bonds with buttons, even during important meetings with world leaders and a speech for the United States Congress, since the beginning of the Russian large -scale invasion of his country in 2022.

The Ukrainian leader has said that his choice of military clothing is a sign of solidarity with the soldiers fighting the Russian army in the lines of the war.

But for a long time it has been an irritating for critics of American aid to Ukraine, and after years as a topic of conversation among some right -wing critics, the problem came to global attention in a spectacular way during the now infamous oval meeting of Friday’s Oval office with Trump and the US vice president JD Vance.

A question for Zelensky by an American journalist accused him of not respecting the occasion by not using a suit and this immediately changed the atmosphere in the room, according to the BBC reporters present.

And a short time later, the greatest problems of respect and gratitude fed the extraordinary argument that saw the president and vice president of the United States rebuke his European ally against the world’s television cameras.

When the meeting opened to the questions of the journalists, one came from Brian Glenn, the main correspondent of the White House for the Real America’s Voice conservative cable network.

“Why don’t you use a suit?” Glenn asked. “You are at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit.

“Do you have a suit?” He continued. “Many Americans have problems with you without respecting the dignity of this office.”

The aggressive interrogation marked the moment when the Ukrainian president, which until then seemed to be having a diplomatic conversation, even friendly, with Trump, first seemed tired and irritated.

“I will use costume after this war ends,” Zelensky replied. (The word “suit” can translate to Ukrainian as “kostyum”.)

The Ukrainian president then made a verbal blow to the journalist.

“Maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better, I don’t know,” he said, to laughter in the room. “Maybe something cheaper.”

Glenn’s question gave voice to a long -standing complaint in the world of magician politics, where some, like JD Vance, argue that the Ukrainian leader does not seem to be showing enough gratitude or respect to the United States for three years of military aid.

A former local television reporter in Dallas who became better known in conservative circles for his work on another Pro-Trump channel, Right Side Broadcasting Network, Glenn is a shameless fan of Trump. Last year He told Politico which was “100 percent behind President Trump and the first United States agenda.”

According to reports, she is also dating Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia’s congresswoman, who is one of Trump’s most open party.

Glenn was in the room as part of the White House Press pool, a group of reporters that covers the president in official events on behalf of the largest media.

He The Trump administration took control of the pool This week of an association of journalists, saying that it would give more access to “new voices.”

Real America’s Voice, which was founded in 2020, is a relatively dark right-wing wire news, one of several pro-trump channels that have emerged in recent years. Its guests and hosts have disseminated conspiracy theories about a variety of issues, including the presidential elections of 2020, Capitol Riot and Qanon 2021.

His show formation includes some big names from the world of Maga, including Trump’s former main advisor Steve Bannon, the classic rocker turned into political activist Ted Nugent and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative group of inflection points. The BBC contacted the network to comment.

After the Oval office dispute, Glenn published online that he had “extreme empathy for the people of Ukraine”, but said that the lack of a demand from Zelensky demonstrated “his lack of internal respect” for the United States.

The defenders of Zelensky online published photos of Winston Churchill with casual clothes during World War II.

The photos of the period show the British leader with monkey clothes for a meeting with the then US president Franklin Roosevelt, and also had uniforms and military costumes during confirmations with world leaders.

After Glenn’s question, the press conference advanced rapidly, to a consultation on whether the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine. At the end of an answer, Trump referred to the demand question.

“I like your clothes,” he joked, and pointing to Zelensky, said: “I think it’s dressed wonderfully.”

Behind the scene, Trump’s attitude may have been slightly different, according to reports. The US media. UU. Axios reported that before the meeting, the Employees of the White House had requested that Zelensky wearing a suit and offended when he did not.

However, the two world leaders continued to take questions, more or less cordially, for almost 20 minutes before the extraordinary argument broke out, after an interruption of the United States vice president, JD Vance.

Vance repeatedly mentioned “respect”, referring to Zelensky as “Mr. President” as the Ukrainian leader called him “JD”, and said: “I think it is disrespectful to enter the oval office and try to litigate this in front of the US media at this time.”

The discussion was downhill from there. A Zelensky without a suit was soon expelled from the White House, since the relations between the two countries reached a new war minimum.

With Shayan Sardarizadeh’s report, BBC Verify and Bernd Debusmann and Myroslava Petsa in the White House