US President Donald Trump's claim that Washington DC was "the most unsafe place anywhere" before he returned to power left his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky gobsmacked.
During a meeting at the Oval Office days after his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump said, "We went from the most unsafe place anywhere to a place that now people, friends are calling me up, Democrats are calling me up and they're saying, 'Sir, I want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years, and Washington, DC is safe.'"
As Trump continued, Zelensky appeared to be taken aback by his statements. The Ukrainian leader was surprised when Trump recounted a story about a friend's son, a professional golfer, who felt safe to dine out in Washington, which he claimed was not possible for a long time.
COMPLETE MORTIFICATION!🔊
— KB (@starquenched) August 21, 2025
Zelensky reacts to Trump calling D.C. the most unsafe place anywhere-
The KKKLOWN PRINCE KKKONMAN .Everyone just sits there & listens to this bullshit Day after day of lying grifting authoritarian "Temu Hitler" bullshit pic.twitter.com/q97vPKIbwY
Trump went on to credit himself for the turnaround. He said, "I had another friend of mine, he has a son who's a great golfer. He is on tour and he came in fourth yesterday in the big tournament where Scotty Scheffler made the great shot and he said his son is going to dinner in Washington DC tonight."
The 79-year-old said: "His friend's son asked his father if he would have allowed that to happen a year ago. He said no way." His friend praised Trump, saying, "What you've done is incredible, and I think the people realized it."
Trump also hit out at the media, accusing it of portraying him as a dictator. "No, all I want is security for our people but people that haven't gone out to dinner in Washington, DC in two years are going to dinner and the restaurant last two days were busier than they've been in a long time," he said.
As part of his crackdown on crime, Trump visited Washington, DC, on Thursday, saying that the troops and police would stay there for a while. The Republican said, "We're going to make it safe, and we're going to then go on to other places, but we're going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect."
Earlier, Trump said he was arranging a meeting between Ukraine and Russian Presidents in an effort to bring an end to the protracted war.
Trump said he spoke with Putin over the phone after a "very good" meeting with the Europeans and the Ukrainian president in the White House.
"At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
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