Trump’s inner circle wants Zelensky to “immediately” leave Ukraine – New York Post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has few supporters in the inner circle of U.S. President Donald Trump—”if any at all.” The deterioration of relations between the two leaders threatens to weaken Kyiv’s position in peace negotiations with Russia.

This was reported by the New York Post, citing sources within Trump’s circle.

Zelensky would be better off leaving Ukraine “immediately,” a source told the newspaper.

“The best option for [Zelensky] and the entire world is for him to leave for France immediately,” the source said.

According to another source within the White House, discussions about elections and replacing Ukraine’s leadership began circulating among Trump’s associates a couple of months ago.

“Anti-Zelensky sentiments are widespread in the West Wing [Trump’s office],” the source stated.

Another White House representative told *The Post*: “Like the Pope, I am not a fan of someone who bans churches,” referring to an August law that allows the closure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

However, sources also noted that Trump does not yet have an obvious preferred candidate for Ukrainian leadership if elections were to take place.

A turning point for Trump was Ukraine’s refusal to sign a deal on rare minerals, which his team saw as a betrayal since Zelensky had previously “agreed” to it.

“Trump’s aides say the president believes that Zelensky effectively agreed during a September meeting at Trump Tower to provide the U.S. with $500 billion worth of rare earth elements as compensation for the $183 billion in aid approved by Congress,” the article states.

Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Mark Rubio made it clear that the primary grievance against Zelensky from Trump’s team is his rejection of the American offer regarding Ukraine’s mineral resources.

The Americans considered this deal a security guarantee for Ukraine, as it would give the U.S. a “personal stake in Ukraine’s security” alongside access to valuable resources.

“I was personally very frustrated because we had a conversation with President Zelensky, we discussed the issue of mineral rights, and we explained to them—look, we want to be in a joint venture with you, not because we’re trying to steal from your country, but because we believe this is actually a security guarantee. If we are your partner in a major economic enterprise, we can recover part of the taxpayer money—around $200 billion. And this also means we now have a personal stake in Ukraine’s security,” Rubio stated in an interview published by the State Department.

According to him, Zelensky agreed but said the deal “needed to go through the legislative process.”

“I read two days later that Zelensky was saying, ‘I rejected the deal; I told them there’s no way we will do this.’ Well, that’s not what happened at that meeting. So, at some point, you start getting frustrated—we are trying to help these guys,” Rubio said.

The Secretary of State also called Zelensky’s remarks that Trump “lives in a world of disinformation” “very, very counterproductive.” According to him, Trump is “not the kind of person who will sit back and tolerate this,” and he “has sent a signal that he will not allow himself to be deceived.”

Rubio also noted that even Joe Biden was “disappointed” with Zelensky because, in the Americans’ view, the Ukrainian president “criticizes” them instead of “expressing gratitude” for their assistance.

Reports indicate that the Trump administration has already provided Ukraine with an improved version of the mineral resource agreement after Kyiv refused to sign the first proposal.

Following a meeting with Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg, Zelensky announced that he was ready to enter into an agreement with the U.S. regarding Ukraine’s mineral deposits.