Local officials react to Trump, Vance meeting with Zelenskyy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — National representatives for Massachusetts and Rhode Island have released reactions to President Trump’s testy meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Rep. Gabe Amo said that the meeting was an “unnerving display:”

Somewhere in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin is smiling from ear to ear watching Trump and Vance berate President Zelensky. This was one of the most unnerving displays that we’ve ever seen come out of the Oval Office. It is beyond words to witness a president side with a dictator over an ally who is fighting to preserve our shared ideal of democracy.

Sen. Jack Reed said that both Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance “ridiculed Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s war of survival against Russia:”

Todays spectacle in the Oval Office was a political ambush and a shameful failure of American leadership.

President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine are fighting for their very lives and existence. Unlike Donald Trump or J.D. Vance, I have traveled to Ukraine and seen firsthand the death and destruction wrought by Vladimir Putin against innocent people. To mock Ukraine and our allies is a travesty that only benefits Putin.

Furthermore, today’s cruel and callous display does great harm to U.S. standing in the world. Trump and Vance are communicating to the world that the United States is not to be trusted. Adversaries and allies alike will take note.

To my Republican colleagues, where is your voice? We are watching America’s leaders surrender to Russia, forfeit our leadership in the world, and do strategic harm to our country — and for what? This is not who we are, and silence is complicity.

I will always stand with Ukraine and place America’s national security interests above theatrics and craven partisanship.

Rep. Seth Magaziner was also critical of the meeting:

Today President Trump shamefully supported violent dictator Vladimir Putin by humiliating the leader of our democratic, Ukraine, in the Oval Office.

Before today, America’s foreign policy always stood on the side of freedom, but now by siding with Putin, Trump  is leading us in a dark and dangerous direction.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss said “Zelenskyy flew to Washington, but he walked into the Kremlin” in a social media post:

Zelenskyy flew to Washington, but he walked into the Kremlin. https://t.co/aVoqVL3tUU

— Rep. Jake Auchincloss (@RepAuchincloss) February 28, 2025