Elon Musk has shared his thoughts on Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House after the POTUS accused his fellow leader of ‘gambling with World War 3’.

The meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump on February 28 left viewers across the globe shocked for a multitude of reasons, with some fiercely defending Zelenskyy and his country following their discussion, while others sided with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Both leaders fought for the chance to speak during the encounter, with Vance chiming in at one point to tell Zelenskyy he should be ‘thanking’ Trump for ‘trying to bring an end’ to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

When Zelenskyy went to respond, Trump said: “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War 3, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”

The meeting was intended to pre-empt a minerals deal between the two countries, but ended with Zelenskyy leaving before the deal was signed.

In the wake of the contentious interaction, Musk has now expressed belief that Zelenskyy’s appearance at the White House was damaging to his reputation.

Musk spoke out on Twitter after right-wing influencer Benny Johnson shared a post reporting on stats relating to Americans’ ‘trust in Zelensky’ [sic], which he wrote ‘fell from 72% to under 48%’.

Musk shared Johnson’s post, and wrote: “Zelensky [sic] damaged himself severely in the eyes of the public. Just a fact.”

Musk claimed Zelenskyy had ‘damaged himself’ (X/@elonmusk)

The SpaceX founder then followed up with another post in which he referenced one of his own tweets from October 2022, where he had shared an apparent plan for achieving ‘Ukraine-Russia Pace’.

He wrote: “- Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.

“- Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).

“- Water supply to Crimea assured.

“- Ukraine remains neutral.”

Musk accused Zelenskyy’s actions of being ‘cruel and inhumane’ (X/@elonmusk)

Quoting his tweet, Musk added on March 2: “What I said over 2 years ago was that Ukraine should seek peace or suffer severe loss of life for no gains. The latter was Zelensky’s choice.

“Now, he wants to do that again. This is cruel and inhumane.”

Musk’s post has received mixed responses from other Twitter users, with some still standing by Zelenskyy and his decisions amid the ongoing war.

After Zelenskyy left the White House, he shared a post in which he stated that Ukraine was ‘truly thankful’ for America’s help to ‘save [its] people’.

“We want only strong relations with America, and I really hope we will have them,” he wrote.

Conan O’Brien has made a not so subtle joke at Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during the 97th Academy Awards.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to President Trump‘s official residence on Friday (February 28), and their meeting quickly descended into chaos.

One of the key topics of debate was Ukraine‘s ongoing war with Russia, which first began in February 2022 when the Russians invaded Ukraine.

According to the BBC, 95,000 people fighting for Russia’s military have now died as the war, while over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield, says The Kyiv Independant.

With the thousands of lives lost, heads of state from across the globe are keen to bring an end to the conflict — Trump included.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But the meeting on Friday quickly descended into chaos, as Trump warned Zelenskyy that he’s ‘gambling with World War 3’.

Raising his voice, Trump said: “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. 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 start having cards … You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people! You’re gambling with World War Three! You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country – this country.”

As we’ve become accustomed to over the years, the Oscars is never shy to discuss politics.

And while discussing Anora’s success at the Oscars so far, host O’Brien said: “Anora’s doing great tonight. Two awards. I think Americans are finally ready for someone to stand up to a powerful Russian,” which is of course a reference to the recent drama involving President Trump.

Following the televised meeting, Zelenskyy took to social media to speak out following his visit to Washington.

He wrote on Twitter: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Trump issued a statement of his own, penning on his social media platform Truth Social: “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.

“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.

“I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

The most shocking Oscars moments ever

Angelina Jolie locks lips with her brother on the red carpet (2000)

Jolie and her brother locked lips on the red carpet (Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

A sweet shoutout from Jolie to her brother James Haven after winning Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted turned into something much more bizarre on the red carpet after the event.

Jolie said during her acceptance speech: “I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother right now.

“He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he’s so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that.”

So far so innocuous, but the pair then went on to lock lips on the red carpet after the ceremony in front of paparazzi.

Reflecting on the incident in 2007, James said: “I did not give Angie a French kiss. It was something simple and lovely. She was about to go off to Mexico to finish filming Original Sin with Antonio Banderas.

“I congratulated her on the Oscar win and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was snapped and became a big thing.”

Adrien Brody surprises Halle Berry with a kiss after winning Best Actor (2003)

The last time Brody was up for Best Actor, he took Berry and everyone else by surprise when he passionately kissed her as she presented him with the award.

Berry said in 2017: “I was like, ‘What the f**k is happening right now?’ That is what was going through my mind.”

She was sympathetic for how the moment may have gone to Brody’s head, however, adding: “I was there the year before and I know the feeling of being out of your body, I just f**king went with it.”

On the campaign trail for The Brutalist this year, Bordy said of the moment in an interview with Variety: “We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing.

“And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.”

John Travolta absolutely butchers Idina Menzel’s name (2014)

Most people would have no trouble pronouncing Frozen star Idina Menzel’s name, but John Travolta isn’t most people.

The Grease legend ended up calling her Adele Dazeem when welcoming to her onstage to perform. Quite how he arrived at that pronunciation is anyone’s guess.

Travolta later apologised, saying in a statement: “I’ve been beating myself up all day. Then I thought … what would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’

“Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy Frozen took home two Oscars Sunday night!”

The La La Land and Moonlight fiasco (2017)

Back in 2017, the most prestigious award of the night, Best Film, was about to be announced.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the gong had gone to La La Land, the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone musical which was widely considered the favourite to win.

Two and half minutes later, when the La La Land team were midway through their acceptance speeches, a producer on the film Jordan Horowitz was shown another envelope that revealed they hadn’t won after all.

There’s a mistake,” he said. “Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.”

It turned out Beatty had somehow been handed the envelope for Best Actress, which went to Emma Stone for La La Land earlier in the evening.

It turned into a mortifying experience for all involved. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins said afterwards: “I noticed the commotion but I was speechless when the result was altered. I’ve never seen that happen before.”

The slap heard around the world (2022)

Easily the most dramatic thing to ever happen at the Oscars, Smith strode on stage and walloped presenter Chris Rock, after he made an ill-advised joke about the Men in Black star’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Rock said on stage: “Jada, can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2,” a reference to her shaved head. Jada has been open about her struggles with alopecia, which made this a low blow in many people’s eyes.

Cue Smith striding on stage and smacking Rock, later yelling at him: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”

The upside of all this was that Smith was banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years, although he did awkwardly go on to pick up the award for Best Actor later that evening.

Smith apologised for his behaviour several times in the months following, saying: “One of the things about that moment, I just didn’t realise, I wasn’t thinking, but how many people got hurt in that moment.”

Donald Trump explained he was ‘searching for somebody smarter’ to collaborate with him during his time in the White House before he ‘settled’ on the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

The POTUS made his admission during an interview with Fox News this week, when he was joined by Musk after it was revealed he had chosen the SpaceX CEO to work on the ‘department of government efficiency’ – otherwise known as DOGE.

Trump announced at the time that Musk would work from outside the government to offer ‘advice and guidance’, and ‘pave the way for [his] administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies’.

Now, Trump has opened up about how Musk came to land the role – and admitted he was looking for other candidates first.

During their interview with Fox, host Sean Hannity pointed out that Trump ‘might not like’ the fact that Musk is richer than him.

Trump quipped back by saying that was ‘why [he] became president’, before going on to talk about how he came to hire Musk.

Musk was hired amid the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

He said: “He’s great, you know I wanted to find somebody smarter than him. I searched all over, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find anyone smarter so we had – for the country. So we settled on this guy.”

Accepting Trump’s backhanded compliment, Musk responded: “Well thanks for having me. I’m just trying to be useful here.”

Trump’s admission comes as a court filing from the White House stated this week that Musk ‘has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself’.

In the declaration, filed by Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, Musk’s title was listed as ‘senior adviser to the president’, Politico reports.

Earlier in the interview, Trump explained he wanted somebody ‘really smart’ to work with ‘in terms of the country’.

Trump claimed Musk was the ‘smartest’ he could find (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“He doesn’t talk about it – he’s actually a very good businessman,” Trump said of Musk, before suggesting that Musk helps ensure Trump’s executive orders get carried out.

Trump explained: “This is probably true for all presidents, you write an executive order and you think it’s done. You send it out, it doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get implemented […] what he does and he takes it, and with his 100 geniuses […] he gets it done.”

After Hannity questioned whether Musk was essentially Trump’s ‘tech support’, Trump then responded: “He’s much more than that.”

Renowned author Stephen King has captivated millions of people across the globe with his mind-bending and lengthy novels, but when he returned to Twitter this week, all he needed was 16 words to get his message across.

King’s surprise comeback to the Elon Musk-owned social media platform came just a few months after the author announced he’d be waving goodbye to it in November 2024.

In a post that’s now pinned to the top of King’s profile, he explained at the time that he’d ‘tried to stay’ on Twitter, but that the ‘atmosphere [had] just become too toxic’.

This is coming from a man who’s made a living come up with terrifying and twisted situations.

Stephen King took a break from Twitter after it became ‘too toxic’ (John Lamparski/WireImage)

“Follow me on Threads, if you like,” King added, referring to Mark Zuckeberg’s rival platform.

But now just a few weeks later, King has returned to Twitter and announced his comeback with a quick post which read: “I’m baaaack! Did you miss me?”

Two minutes after his first post, he shared another tweet in which he took aim at both Donald Trump and Twitter’s owner, Musk.

Suggesting he’d made his return specifically to share his thoughts on the president and his adviser, King wrote: “Just wanted to say that Trump is a traitorous, Putin-loving dips**t! Goes double for Elon!”

King didn’t hold back on his return to Twitter (X/@stephenking)

The post isn’t the first time King has criticized the pair in recent weeks. Shortly after Trump won the US election in November, King shared a post on Threads in which he claimed Musk was ‘running the show’ for Trump, despite the fact he cannot run for president himself because he was born in South Africa.

King wrote: “You can’t call Elon Musk the President-elect, because he wasn’t elected. In fact, having been born in Pretoria, he is ineligible to become president. Nonetheless, he is running the show. You know that, but it bears repeating.”

Trump has been working with Musk as an advisor (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

King’s clear disapproval of Trump and Musk comes as the pair continue to work together in the White House after Trump declared Musk as being in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE.

However, the White House recently took a different stance on Musk’s position in the government, as it described him as a senior adviser to the president who had no authority over DOGE.

When it comes to the reference of Vladimir Putin in King’s tweet, it’s worth noting that King spoke out just after Trump warned Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that he ‘better move fast’ against Russia’s ongoing invasion of his country, or he was ‘not going to have a country left’.

Trump’s comments came after he engaged in a lengthy phone conversation with Putin, which Trump described as ‘highly productive’.