Victoria Derbyshire speaks to Brian Glenn, Chief White House Correspondent for Real America's Voice and the man who asked President Zelensky why he doesn't wear a suit during the tense meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office. He tells Newsnight about the public response to his question and discusses the possible peace deals to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
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00:00And do you think it did come across as a snarky comment?
00:03Do you ever, why don't you wear a suit?
00:07Why don't you wear a suit?
00:08You're the highest level in this country's office and you refuse to wear a suit.
00:12Just want to see, do you own a suit?
00:15I'm sure it did.
00:16I know by the thousands and tens of thousands of comments I've gotten on social media,
00:21death threats, phone calls, I don't know how they got my number.
00:25I think the world took it as a snarky comment.
00:28That wasn't really my intention.
00:30Thank you very much for being with us.
00:32Thank you for talking to us.
00:34I wonder if I could begin by asking you,
00:37on Friday, why you asked President Zelensky, why don't you wear a suit?
00:43Well, first of all, thanks for having me on.
00:46We have been covering, obviously, the events in Ukraine since it started.
00:52And I've been on the campaign trail with President Trump for many years.
00:56And as Americans get kind of engaged in what's going on,
00:59that was one of the questions that many Americans had is,
01:03why doesn't the President Zelensky wear a suit when he goes to these very high level
01:10meetings, whether it's in the U.S., whether it's over in Europe?
01:14And when you look at the several dignitaries that seem to
01:18have a level of respect for their office,
01:21I just asked the questions that many Americans were asking at home.
01:25And that's kind of what I've been doing for a while.
01:27So I didn't mean to come off as a snarky comment.
01:33Although I do feel like when Zelensky got out of the car and met President Trump at the West Wing,
01:40that's if you probably saw where President Trump mentioned that it looks like he got dressed up.
01:46So I thought I would ask him, why didn't he wear a suit?
01:51And do you think it did come across as a snarky comment?
01:55Oh, I'm sure it did.
01:57I know by the thousands and tens of thousands of comments I've gotten on social media,
02:02death threats, phone calls, I don't know how they got my number.
02:05I think the world took it as a snarky comment.
02:08That wasn't really my intention.
02:11My intention was just to see if he understood the level of respect that people have
02:17when they go into the Oval Office.
02:19Now, a lot of people will say, well, why doesn't Elon Musk wear a suit?
02:22Why does he wear a hat?
02:23Why does he take his kid into the Oval Office?
02:25Well, Elon Musk is in charge of savings, billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars
02:31going over to different organizations.
02:35Zelensky has been given, some say, close to $300 billion in cash and military equipment.
02:41So I would think at that point, it does warrant him showing a little bit of respect.
02:46I said this earlier, Victoria, and I think it's very appropriate for this particular situation.
02:51Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover and by his lack of respect for his attire
02:59did come across later throughout the interview
03:02when they got in that heated exchange with Vice President J.D. Vance and President Trump.
03:07But it was not my intention to spark that.
03:10I was just making an observation.
03:12A couple of things to pick you up on there, if I may, Mr. Glenn.
03:15The U.S. hasn't given $300 billion worth of aid.
03:18I know President Trump has said it a number of times,
03:21but it's more like $119 billion, according to a think tank in Germany
03:26who actually tracks what goes into Ukraine.
03:30And in terms of your point about his attire,
03:35many people are saying, look, this is a guy at war.
03:38He's been leading his country bravely through this war against Russia for three years
03:44and probably what he's wearing is the last thing on his mind.
03:48Yeah, and I would agree with that.
03:50But to my point, the war is not in the West Wing and the Oval Office in Washington, D.C.
03:55The war is back in Ukraine.
03:57And let me be really clear on this, Victoria,
04:00because this is some of the hate that I've gotten online.
04:04President Trump, I just left the Roosevelt Room.
04:06President Trump wants nothing more than peace in that region, wants to stop this war.
04:12Matter of fact, my first question, Victoria, was about his legacy going down as a peacemaker
04:18and someone who stopped the war and didn't start any wars that the U.S. got involved.
04:23So that was my first question.
04:24So this is something that he wants to end.
04:29And to be honest with you, 2,700 people, Ukrainian men, and you know this,
04:35you report on this, die a day in Ukraine.
04:38And that is a concern of the president.
04:40And that is why he wanted to make this deal and stop the war.
04:45So I'd like to focus more on the peace aspect of this,
04:49rather than a snarky comment, if you would, about his attire.
04:53And mind you, many Americans are thinking about this.
04:57Here's the deal, 99.99% of the people watching this interview right now
05:02did not vote in the 2024 presidential election.
05:06But they do want to see the war end.
05:10Like we do as well.
05:12And so if people are so bent out of shape about my question about what he's wearing,
05:18I think the bigger picture should be, why didn't Vladimir Zelensky just go in,
05:24show a certain level of appreciation and respect for what we've given him?
05:28Now, we don't know really how much we've spent because no one can account for
05:33the missing military weapons and cash that's been brought there.
05:37So whatever think tank there in Germany is tracking this,
05:40from our side of things, we can't even get a clear accounting of that.
05:44But numbers aside, the goal here was to achieve peace.
05:49That's what we need to do.
05:51And I will say this, if Zelensky comes back to the Oval Office,
05:55and he's wearing a suit, let me be the first person, Victoria,
05:58to shake his hand and to congratulate him and apologize for that comment.
06:03We'd be more than happy to do that.
06:06I mean, I'm sure somebody else has said this to you,
06:08but obviously when Winston Churchill went to see Roosevelt
06:12during the Second World War in the White House,
06:14he was wearing military fatigues.
06:16Was he showing disrespect?
06:19Well, you know, I wasn't alive then.
06:21I wasn't there to watch that.
06:22You've got a view.
06:23I'm not going to comment that.
06:24But what I'm saying is, if you guys are trying to get this,
06:28it's all about the wardrobe.
06:30And that's what I've been the biggest excuse.
06:31Why aren't we talking about peace?
06:352,700 Ukrainian men die a day, and we're going to argue about,
06:40well, Winston Churchill was wearing military fatigues, and is that okay?
06:44Elon Musk wears a t-shirt, a jacket, and a hat and brings his kids.
06:50I don't know why this is still an argument.
06:53I really don't.
06:55If it means that much to you guys, then congratulations.
06:59You guys just made a deal with Zelensky a few days ago,
07:03and he wore a tracksuit to meet your king there.
07:07Now, hopefully that wasn't offensive to you guys.
07:10But look, whatever...
07:12Let me ask you about something that President Trump has said tonight.
07:16He has criticised on Truth Social President Zelensky again,
07:21and he said, America will not put up with it for much longer.
07:25What do you think he means by that?
07:27Well, obviously, I can't speak for the president,
07:30but I think that what we don't want is Zelensky to draw this thing out.
07:35Let me ask you a question.
07:37Would you like to see the war end today, right now?
07:41And I'm assuming the answer is yes.
07:43But if Zelensky views this war as some type of conveyor belt of US tax dollars and money
07:56going to Ukraine with no intention of a ceasefire,
08:00then I think we all need to take a step back.
08:02But I don't know what President Trump meant by that.
08:05I know he wants peace.
08:06He said that today.
08:07He said it before.
08:09No one wants this to go on and on and perhaps be World War III.
08:17None of us want that.
08:18None of us want...
08:19Let's get peace done.
08:21Let's do it.
08:22Let's get this mineral rights agreement done as well.
08:26And that is one way that US can recoup the hundreds of billions of dollars
08:31that we've given Ukraine.
08:33You were there, obviously, when J.D. Vance and President Trump
08:36said what they said to President Zelensky on Friday.
08:39One political leader here in the UK, the leader of the Liberal Democrats,
08:43said President Trump and Vice President Vance were guilty of thuggery and bullying.
08:51Do you think that's fair?
08:53No.
08:54But, well, I don't think it's fair.
08:56Because if you look at the media coverage the last four to six years on President Trump,
09:01every single news outlet, not only in this country,
09:05but around the world, has bullied President Trump.
09:08They've lied about him.
09:09The American media has.
09:10I don't know about BBC, but the American media has lied about President Trump.
09:14They've done it from day one, and yet no one calls them out for, quote, bullying.
09:20So if Vice President J.D. Vance and President Trump want to ask some tough questions
09:26and put him front and center in front of all those cameras, that's not bullying.
09:31That's being transparent to the American people.
09:35Mind you, I really wish that perhaps President Bush
09:38would open up that Oval Office to the media like President Trump did,
09:42so the world could see these highly important decisions being made that could save lives.
09:50Victoria, that's what this is about.
09:52It's about saving lives and ending this war.
09:55If people's feelings get hurt and they feel like it's bullying,
09:58then maybe you're not the right person to lead a country.
10:02I'm just saying.
10:03President Trump is as tough as it gets.
10:05He represents Americans.
10:07He represents making peace in that region and around the world.
10:12And did you see President Zelensky being as tough as he gets?
10:16It can't be peace at any cost.
10:18It's got to be a sovereign Ukraine.
10:21It's got to be backed by U.S. security guarantees
10:24or else President Putin will be right back in there.
10:27Well, we don't necessarily know that,
10:29because I think when President Trump gets involved with the deal,
10:32you see the absolute fear on the faces of people involved.
10:37So if this deal is done and there's no troops on the ground for security,
10:42kind of a backstop, if you will,
10:44Victoria, in all due respect, I think the world has seen a weak Joe Biden
10:50and they have seen how the U.S. has not stood up to the adversaries in the world.
10:54So if President Trump makes a deal and says,
10:58you will not invade Ukraine, this thing is over,
11:03Victoria, they're not going to do it.
11:05We don't need to keep putting people and resources
11:08and spending money for people on the ground.
11:11It's over.
11:13I think the respect for the world they have for,
11:15I mean, look at the events on October 7th in Israel.
11:19That would have never happened if President Trump was in office.
11:23So if President Trump is in office, Vladimir Putin is not going to invade Ukraine.
11:28It's over.
11:29Get the deal done, get peace, and let's move on and rebuild
11:33and help those people suffering in Ukraine.
11:36Women, children, babies, a whole generation of men are being wiped out right now.
11:41And that's concerning for everyone.
11:44That's the biggest point I want to make here, Victoria.
11:46We need peace in that region.
11:48We cannot go to a World War III if anything escalates any further.
11:52And I just pray that something will happen and we'll be able to stop this bloody war.
12:00Brian Glenn, thank you very much for talking to us this evening.
12:04Good night.