A forthcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan says U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in private and tried to shape Donald Trump’s handling of him. Quotes published by The Guardian describe Bessent calling Zelensky “a little prick,” “a special needs child of Europe,” and “Mr. Bean on drugs,” while also describing him as “sophisticated and problematic.” The book, “Regime Change,” is due out worldwide on Tuesday.
According to the report, Bessent advised Trump not to host Zelensky in the Oval Office. He also reportedly warned that Zelensky should not be allowed into the White House until he signed a minerals agreement prepared by the Treasury Department, at a time when the deal was edging toward what the authors describe as near-total capitulation by Kyiv to Washington’s terms.
The book says these remarks came before the Feb. 28, 2025 White House confrontation between Trump and Zelensky, which ended in an unusually public blowup. During that meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of ingratitude for U.S. wartime aid against Russia and criticized him for not arriving in a suit. The episode became a symbol of the Trump administration’s shift toward Ukraine compared with the Biden administration’s strong support.
The authors write that several Trump aides feared the visit could end badly, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz unsuccessfully tried to pass along a message that Zelensky should wear a suit. Bessent later told Bloomberg Zelensky had made a diplomatic mistake and scored “one of the greatest own goals,” saying he had been shocked by Zelensky’s behavior and saw it as disrespectful to Trump, Vance and especially the American people.
The book also describes Bessent’s 45-minute shouting match with Zelensky in Kyiv while pressing him to sign the minerals deal. The talks were reportedly slowed by a dispute between Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the wording. Trump later asked Usha Vance, JD Vance’s wife, to review Ukraine’s requested edits, and she called the text “terrible” and made extensive changes. The book adds that Bessent told associates Trump reminded him of his former boss George Soros, saying they were “the same animal.”
