They are the same animal, Bessent said of Trump and Soros
In the corridors of power where alliances are made and unmade, the private language of officials often reveals what public diplomacy conceals. A forthcoming account of the second Trump administration alleges that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used crude, demeaning language to describe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and counseled Trump to bar him from the White House until a minerals deal was secured — remarks that cast a shadow over an already fractured diplomatic relationship. The February 2025 Oval Office meeting that followed became a public rupture, with Trump and Vance berating Zelenskyy over gratitude and attire, while the minerals agreement meant to anchor US-Ukraine ties remained mired in internal disputes. These revelations arrive as the question of American support for Ukraine endures, a reminder that the fate of nations can turn on the temperament of the people in the room.
- A book by two New York Times reporters alleges that Treasury Secretary Bessent privately called Zelenskyy a 'little fucker' and 'Mr Bean on crack,' urging Trump to keep him out of the White House until a minerals deal was signed.
- The February 2025 Oval Office meeting Bessent tried to prevent became a televised humiliation, with Trump and Vance criticizing Zelenskyy for insufficient gratitude and failing to wear a suit.
- Days before the meeting, Bessent and Zelenskyy engaged in a forty-five-minute shouting match in Kyiv, the minerals deal still unsigned and tangled in a turf war between Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
- The deal was ultimately reviewed by Usha Vance, who found it 'awful' and rewrote substantial portions — an improvised fix to a negotiation that had already consumed senior cabinet officials.
- A separate allegation that Bessent compared Trump to George Soros — a figure Republicans treat as a political villain — threatens to compound the reputational damage as the book's publication coincides with the G7 summit in France.
A forthcoming book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, titled Regime Change, portrays Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as a man who privately dismissed Volodymyr Zelenskyy with crude contempt — calling the Ukrainian president a 'little fucker,' a 'special-needs child,' and 'Mr Bean on crack' — while advising Donald Trump to refuse him entry to the Oval Office until a minerals agreement was signed. The allegations surface at a moment when American support for Ukraine remains politically unresolved.
The meeting Bessent sought to prevent took place anyway on February 28, 2025, and unraveled quickly. Trump and Vice President JD Vance spent the encounter criticizing Zelenskyy for not expressing sufficient gratitude for US military aid and, remarkably, for failing to wear a suit. National security adviser Mike Waltz had tried and failed to communicate the dress expectation in advance.
In the days before the White House visit, Bessent had traveled to Kyiv and engaged Zelenskyy in a forty-five-minute shouting match — an extraordinary scene of a treasury secretary, barely weeks into the role, berating a wartime leader. The minerals deal meant to stabilize the relationship remained unsigned, caught in a dispute between Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over its language. Trump eventually turned to his wife Usha Vance, a Yale Law graduate, to review Ukrainian edits; she found the document 'awful' and rewrote it substantially.
When Zelenskyy arrived at the White House, Bessent watched as Vance's face reddened over Zelenskyy's requests for security guarantees. Afterward, Bessent told Bloomberg that Zelenskyy had committed 'one of the great diplomatic own goals.' The book also alleges that Bessent privately compared Trump to George Soros — a remark likely to unsettle Republican allies — though the Treasury Department has not responded to any of the claims. The book's release coincides with this week's G7 summit in France, where Ukraine aid remains on the agenda.
A forthcoming book by two New York Times reporters has surfaced a portrait of Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, as a man prone to crude dismissals of world leaders and willing to counsel his president to avoid them altogether. According to Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's account of the second Trump administration—titled Regime Change and due out Tuesday—Bessent referred to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in private conversation as a "little fucker," a "special-needs child," and "Mr Bean on crack." He advised Donald Trump not to allow the Ukrainian president into the Oval Office until a minerals deal had been signed.
The revelation arrives at a moment when US support for Ukraine remains a live political question. Bessent's alleged language, crude as it is, might have remained a footnote to internal administration dysfunction had the actual meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy on February 28, 2025, not unfolded as a public embarrassment. Trump and Vice President JD Vance spent the encounter criticizing Zelenskyy for insufficient gratitude toward American military aid and, improbably, for not wearing a suit. National security adviser Mike Waltz had tried unsuccessfully to communicate to Zelenskyy beforehand that formal dress was expected.
Bessent had been deeply invested in preventing exactly this kind of collision. He had pressed Zelenskyy hard during a visit to Kyiv in the days before the White House meeting, the two men locked in a shouting match that lasted forty-five minutes. Bessent, only days into his role as treasury secretary, found himself berating the leader of a nation at war. At one point, according to Haberman and Swan, he demanded: "What the fuck do you want to do?" The minerals deal that was supposed to anchor the relationship remained unsigned, caught in disputes between Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over its language. Eventually, Trump turned to his wife Usha Vance, a Yale Law graduate, to review the Ukrainian edits. She found the document "awful" and made substantial revisions.
When Zelenskyy did arrive at the White House, Bessent was present as Vance's anger escalated visibly. Vance's face reddened as Zelenskyy pressed for security guarantees, a request that struck the vice president as ingratitude and disrespect. The meeting deteriorated from there. Afterward, Bessent told Bloomberg that Zelenskyy had committed "one of the great diplomatic own goals," expressing shock that the Ukrainian president would "disrespect the American people" in the Oval Office.
What may prove more damaging to Bessent's standing, however, is a separate revelation in the book. He reportedly told associates that Trump reminded him of George Soros, the investor and major Democratic donor whom many Republicans regard as a boogeyman. "They are the same animal," Bessent is said to have remarked. The treasury department has not responded to requests for comment on any of these allegations. The book's publication comes as Ukraine aid remains a topic of discussion at international forums, including this week's G7 summit in France.
Citações Notáveis
He's like the special-needs child for the Europeans. And he's acting like Mr Bean on crack.— Scott Bessent, according to Haberman and Swan
One of the great diplomatic own goals— Scott Bessent, describing Zelenskyy's performance at the White House, to Bloomberg
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would a treasury secretary spend so much energy trying to keep a wartime leader out of the Oval Office?
Bessent seemed to view Zelenskyy as a problem to be managed rather than a partner to be engaged. He wanted the minerals deal locked down first—leverage, in other words—before any face-to-face encounter.
And the language he used—was that just venting to friends, or does it suggest something deeper about how he saw the role?
The pattern matters more than any single phrase. He was insulting, he was dismissive, and he was advising the president to exclude someone. That's not venting. That's shaping policy through contempt.
The meeting happened anyway. What changed?
Zelenskyy came despite the warnings. And then Trump and Vance attacked him for not being grateful and not dressing formally. It became exactly the kind of disaster Bessent had predicted—but for entirely different reasons.
So Bessent was right that it would blow up, but wrong about why?
Precisely. He thought Zelenskyy was the problem. Turns out the problem was the room itself—the expectations, the resentment, the unwillingness to listen.
What does it say that Trump eventually had his wife fix the minerals deal?
That the treasury secretary had lost control of his own negotiation. By that point, Bessent's judgment was clearly in question.