If Zelenskyy will wear a suit, asks White House ahead of meet with Trump

The White House has enquired whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to wear a suit during his upcoming Oval Office meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday with several European leaders in attendance, according to an Axios report.

The seemingly minor issue of Zelenskyy’s attire became a flashpoint during his last visit to the White House in March, contributing to what officials later described as a diplomatic misfire.

When Trump and Zelenskyy met in the Oval Office this year, things got heated. During that encounter, a reporter even asked Zelenskyy why he chose not to wear a suit.

“Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit. Do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office,” the reporter asked, as per BBC.

Later, Zelenskyy had then made a jibe that he would wear the ‘costume’ when the war was over.

During that prior meeting, Zelenskyy arrived in his signature military-style outfit, a look that has come to symbolise Ukraine’s wartime resilience but one that reportedly irked Trump.

Upon greeting him, the US president quipped, “He is all dressed up today,” a sarcastic remark that set the tone for an already tense engagement.

– Ends

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