Those may have been the truest words uttered by U.S. President Donald Trump in the course of a dramatic and completely undiplomatic meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump knows a thing or two about television. A former reality TV star, he charted his path to power with a keen awareness of how to retain people’s attention. The more shocking, the more outlandish, the more boorish, the more unprecedented—the more ratings would tick up. Trump tracked this obsessively. He was known to dial TV executives willing to take his calls, dishing on the numbers every morning. If the ratings hadn’t inched up, he would try something else. Rinse and repeat. More ratings, more coverage, more attention. Attention must be paid.

The formula worked on the presidential campaign trail starting in 2015, in a country where politicians are forever soliciting attention and cable channels constantly gaming out the next political cycle (fueled, in part, by the sugar high of ratings and political advertising). It worked again in 2024, at least as defined by electoral success, and even as video consumption shifted to smaller screens and bite-sized clips—a transition Trump also seemed to quickly master. But does the shock strategy work as well while you’re in office? What are the metrics of success when you no longer need to win an election?

This past week, Trump pushed the boundaries of press attention—without needing to travel or organize a major rally. On Monday, Thursday, and then Friday, Trump received the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine in the White House, each time making sure a freewheeling discussion was aired out in front of the world’s cameras. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer presenting a letter from King Charles III inviting him for a second state visit? Check. Bonhomie with French President Emmanuel Macron? Check. Telling off Zelensky? Check. Actual accomplishments or diplomatic advances? TBD. Stay tuned for more. Perhaps after the commercial break. Watch this space.

A sampling of Trump and Zelensky’s heated exchange in the Oval Office on Feb. 28. Watch the full exchange and read the transcript here.Getty Images

More ominously, perhaps: “What will this mean for the future of our country?”

OK, as a former TV producer, I now know that this is all enough of a tease. Here’s what happened (you should also read FP’s transcript of the key moments here).

It began as these sorts of things often go. “I want to see if we can get this thing done,” Trump said, of a potential cease-fire and peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. “You want me to be tough? I can be tougher than any human being you’ve ever seen … but you’re never going to get a deal that way.”

Normal, so far. Then U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance chimed in. “For four years, in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up in press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin … We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions.” Zelensky asked to respond. Speaking in English—he normally uses an interpreter—he described how Russian President Vladimir Putin had occupied various parts of Ukraine since 2014. “We had a lot of conversations with him … he broke the cease-fire. He killed our people. … What kind of diplomacy, J.D., are you speaking about?”

This didn’t go down well.

“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said.

Zelensky upped the ante. “Have you ever been to Ukraine to see what problems we have? Come once,” he said. And later, of Putin’s aggression taking place far from American shores, he said: “You have a nice ocean and don’t feel [the problems] now. But you will feel it in the future.”

Around this point, it all went steeply downhill. Trump jumped back in. “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” he said. “We’re trying to solve a problem. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good. We’re going to feel very good and very strong.”

Trump then began to raise his voice. “You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. You don’t have the cards right now with us. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”

The clips will go viral. The transcript will be pored over. Even Trump, ever aware of the drama of the moment, took to his Truth Social account and wrote, “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House Today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion. … [Zelensky] disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

And so it was that a scheduled second press conference, after lunch, never came to be. Stay tuned for the next visit.

Zelensky’s fatal flaw, in his now viral exchange with Vance and Trump, was that he dared to upend the script, which even drew Vance’s ire for “trying to litigate this in front of the American media.” (Ignore for a minute that it was the White House that had invited the media in the first place.) Zelensky forgot that Trump wanted to be treated not like a fellow leader, but as an all-powerful monarch, for the benefit of the cameras. “Have you ever said thank you?” Vance said at one point. For a former comedian used to the cameras, it was strange that Zelensky got the script wrong.