Zelenskyy sports more formal attire for follow-up meeting at the White House

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy donned a more formal new look Monday for his high-stakes White House meeting with President Trump.

Mr. Zelenskyy wore a black dress shirt and black jacket with buttons and lapels. He didn’t wear a traditional suit and tie like Mr. Trump, but it was a major departure from the olive or black military attire he’s donned since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

“You look fabulous in that suit,” Brian Glenn, a correspondent with the conservative Real America’s Voice network, told Mr. Zelenskyy on Monday after questioning the Ukrainian’s clothing choices during a March visit to Washington.

“I said the same thing,” Mr. Trump said Monday. 

Turning to Mr. Zelenskyy, the president said of the journalist, “He’s the one who attacked you last time.”

“I remember,” Mr. Zelenskyy said with a smile.

It’s unusual for a leader’s sartorial choices to be a major topic during bilateral meetings. 

But Mr. Zelenskyy is a notable case. His decision to ditch formal suits in favor of military garb is seen as a way of showing solidarity with Ukrainian troops and civilians back home, who’ve suffered years of hardship since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his army over the border.

Scholars and pundits also see it as an “anti-elitist” message that attempts to remind global leaders about his country’s plight.

Mr. Zelenskyy, a comedian-turned-crisis leader, has worn a variety of outfits that hammer on this solidarity theme, from olive t-shirts during formal addresses to his nation to button-up army shirts in appearances before the United Nations.

He wore a black sweatshirt with a Ukrainian trident, or tryzub, to a White House sit-down in March that swiftly devolved into arguments with Mr. Trump over his leverage in negotiating an end to the war with Mr. Putin.

Yet his clothes took center stage at that meeting, too, when Mr. Glenn asked: “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.”

Mr. Zelenskyy took umbrage at the question, saying he might change his clothing choices after the war.

But the message seemed to be delivered. Mr. Zelenskyy changed things up for Monday’s high-stakes meeting with Mr. Trump and European leaders.

Mr. Zelenskyy’s outfit featured black pants and a shirt buttoned all the way to the top.

“I apologize to you, you look wonderful,” Mr. Glenn told Mr. Zelenskyy, referring to their exchange in March. 

“And you are in the same suit,” Mr. Zelenskyy told the reporter, getting the last laugh.