“Trump generously agreed”: Zelensky requested a recent phone call with Trump – Kellogg

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on March 19, and Trump “graciously” agreed.

This was stated by Trump’s special representative, Keith Kellogg, in an interview with ABC News.

According to Kellogg, Zelensky and Trump had a good conversation in March because, after meeting in the Oval Office, the Ukrainian president “realized he was dealing with a completely different politician and leader.”

He also noted that Zelensky made a “mistake” during his meeting with Trump at the White House by “playing to the audience.”

“I think two or three weeks ago, in the Oval Office, President Zelensky started playing for the cameras. We warned him that morning: ‘Don’t do that,’ but when the press came in, he played to them. And I thought, ‘Oh, he’s going down the wrong path with President Trump,’ and that’s exactly what happened,” Kellogg stated.

Trump’s representative added that he and several senators had prepared Zelensky for the meeting with Trump that morning.

“Everything was fine until the press arrived, and then, like flipping a switch, everything changed. I said, ‘Okay, now it’s your turn,’ and as the president later noted, it was like a lesson from ‘The Apprentice 101’ (a reference to Trump’s TV show where he famously fired contestants). He made a big mistake doing that, and when he was led out of the White House, the president said, ‘I’ve had enough.’ I think that’s when Zelensky realized what had happened,” Kellogg explained.