Trump to Meet Zelensky at White House Tuesday
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- Trump will meet Zelensky at the White House on Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to Axios; ABC News first reported the meeting Saturday, with Zelensky traveling to Washington for Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral.
- Lindsey Graham, one of Ukraine's most forceful congressional champions, died suddenly at 71 earlier this month after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv shortly before his death.
- Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and close Trump ally, traveled to Kyiv last week after years of minimizing Russia's invasion and told CNN she had been "bamboozled by Russian propaganda"; Trump shared her Zelensky interview on Truth Social, writing "Very good!!!"
- Tim Pool, a right-wing podcaster who long opposed US support for Ukraine, said last week he now sees the importance of a Ukrainian victory — a shift Le Monde called a "spectacular conversion."
- Russia has intensified its missile campaign, striking Kyiv again Sunday with ballistic missiles, while Ukraine has escalated long-range drone attacks against Russian targets.
- Trump and Zelensky last met at the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month, where they discussed strengthening Ukraine's air defenses and diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Why it matters: Zelensky is losing one of Ukraine's strongest Senate champions in Graham, who died at 71, while simultaneously gaining unexpected converts among Trump-adjacent far-right figures — Loomer and Pool — reshaping the domestic coalition around US Ukraine aid at a moment when Russia is escalating ballistic strikes on Kyiv.
