--- title: Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump description: Zelensky wore a black military-style suit to a cordial White House meeting with Trump, contrasting February’s tense encounter. canonical: https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-18T20:07:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:51.585Z article:section: Politics og:title: Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump og:description: Zelensky wore a black military-style suit to a cordial White House meeting with Trump, contrasting February’s tense encounter. og:url: https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3316ca592150e477/6998c90d1f670906f8f56a5c/GettyImages-2229867792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7728 og:image:height: 4347 og:image:alt: European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen Hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky For Bilateral Talks In Brussels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump twitter:description: Zelensky wore a black military-style suit to a cordial White House meeting with Trump, contrasting February’s tense encounter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3316ca592150e477/6998c90d1f670906f8f56a5c/GettyImages-2229867792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 18, 2025 8:07 PM UTC  BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - AUGUST 17: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the EU Commission President (Unseen) talk to media prior a virtual meeting with EU leaders in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on August 17, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. The bilateral talks between Ukraine's President Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen come as European leaders announce they will join Zelensky and US President Trump for a meeting in Washington, DC on Monday. On Friday, Trump held a summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss terms for ending the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - AUGUST 17: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the EU Commission President (Unseen) talk to media prior a virtual meeting with EU leaders in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on August 17, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. The bilateral talks between Ukraine's President Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen come as European leaders announce they will join Zelensky and US President Trump for a meeting in Washington, DC on Monday. On Friday, Trump held a summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss terms for ending the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images) Getty Images—2025 Thierry Monasse  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 18, 2025 8:07 PM UTC Ukrainian President [Volodymyr Zelensky](https://time.com/7310369/zelensky-trump-meeting-white-house-eu-leaders/) arrived at the White House on Monday for a meeting with [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/7310286/trump-zelensky-russia-ukraine-war-putin-conditions-white-house-meeting/) and several European leaders dressed in a black military-style suit, a departure from his typical army-green colored outfits or polos. The outfit retained nods to Ukraine’s ongoing war efforts while also accommodating the White House’s preference for a more formal suit, following the pair’s tense Oval Office meeting in February. According to [Axios](https://www.axios.com/2025/08/18/trump-zelensky-summit-suit-jacket), the White House asked Zelensky to wear a suit to Monday’s meeting following a tense [Feb. 28 Oval Office encounter](https://time.com/7262883/trump-zelensky-meeting/), during which Trump criticized the Ukrainian leader’s military attire. “He’s all dressed up today!” Trump told reporters at the time, in what was widely seen as a veiled jab. Monday’s meeting, in contrast, was markedly more friendly as the two discussed potential peace initiatives with [President Vladimir Putin](https://time.com/7310117/putin-talks-trump-ukraine-takeaways/), before being joined by a delegation of European leaders. **Read More:** [_Trump Tells Zelensky to Forgo Regaining Crimea and Joining NATO Ahead of White House Meeting_](https://time.com/7310286/trump-zelensky-russia-ukraine-war-putin-conditions-white-house-meeting/) The black suit also prompted a lighter moment Monday, when a conservative pundit who had previously criticized Zelensky offered a compliment.  U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker—2025 Getty Images “President Zelensky, you look fabulous in that suit,” Brian Glenn, White House correspondent for right-wing media group Real America’s Voice, said. Trump quickly jumped in— “I said the same thing.” He continued, pointing at Glenn, “And he’s the one that attacked you last time.” Zelensky said he remembered Glenn, and jokingly noted he was wearing the same suit as he did during his first meeting with Trump. Back in February, Glenn scolded Zelensky in a question in the Oval Office, asking him if he “owned” a suit. “A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office,” he said. In response, Zelensky said: “I will wear a costume after this war will finish.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/"},"headline":"Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump","datePublished":"2025-08-18T20:07:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:51.585Z","description":"Zelensky wore a black military-style suit to a cordial White House meeting with Trump, contrasting February’s tense encounter.","url":"https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3316ca592150e477/6998c90d1f670906f8f56a5c/GettyImages-2229867792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3316ca592150e477/6998c90d1f670906f8f56a5c/GettyImages-2229867792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen Hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky For Bilateral Talks In Brussels","caption":"European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen Hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky For Bilateral Talks In Brussels","creditText":"Getty Images—2025 Thierry Monasse","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7310469/zelensky-suit-trump-ukraine/","name":"Zelensky Suits Up in a Gesture to Trump"}}]}] ```