trump, a man with puffy blond hair and a red tie seems to yell at volodymyr zelenskyy
US president Donald Trump berates Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The BulletinMarch 3, 2025

World reacts in horror to Trump and Zelenskyy’s Oval Office showdown

Contributing writer
trump, a man with puffy blond hair and a red tie seems to yell at volodymyr zelenskyy
US president Donald Trump berates Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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The confrontation made clear the Trump administration’s increasing contempt for the Ukraine war effort, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.

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Ten fiery minutes that shook the world

It’s been called the most consequential moment in the Ukraine war since Russia’s invasion just over three years ago. The astonishing Oval Office set-to between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump and JD Vance has all but destroyed the prospect of a US-brokered peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, while an agreement on US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals – a bartering chip for continued US aid – was left abandoned in the White House after Zelenskyy was asked to leave. US support for the Ukraine war effort is now in more peril than even a fortnight ago, when Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war.

In Europe, where the Russia threat is most acute, the reverberations from the meeting have been profound. “The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away,” said German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.” Perhaps even more strikingly, European Union foreign minister Kaja Kallas said, “Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.”

World leaders rally around Ukraine

Immediately after the disastrous White House meeting, Zelenskyy flew directly to the UK. He was met with (literal) open arms by prime minister Keir Starmer, who said the country would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it may take”. Overnight, more than a dozen European leaders, including Starmer and Zelenskyy, gathered in London for talks on the worsening situation.

In the hours following the Trump-Zelenskyy clash, world leaders took to X to reaffirm their backing for Ukraine. Christopher Luxon was one. “New Zealand remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine as it defends itself in a war that Russia started,” the prime minister tweeted. “It’s mounting the defence of a proud, democratic and sovereign nation, but also the defence of international law.” As he did with every other leader’s pro-Ukraine tweet, Zelenskyy retweeted Luxon’s message with a brief expression of thanks. Ukraine’s ambassador to New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said he was thankful for the “outburst of support” from New Zealand in the wake of the Oval Office meeting.

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    Unwilling to upset US, NZ government walks a fine line

    While Luxon’s tweet contained an implied criticism of Trump’s treatment of Zelenskyy, actually coming out and stating it plainly is another matter. Writing in The Conversation, Waikato University’s Alexander Gillespie says that as Trump continues to attack international norms, New Zealand’s silence is becoming less tenable by the day. “New Zealand’s vaunted independent foreign policy… has been a workable mechanism to navigate the challenges facing a small trading nation reliant on a rules-based global order,” he writes. “[But] as the old world order erodes, losing its voice for fear of offending bigger powers cannot become the country’s default position.

    NZ looks to up defence spending

    Gillespie’s fellow geopolitical expert Robert Patman tells Stuff’s Thomas Manch that the Oval Office blowup – and the recent tensions with China – should concentrate the minds of those holding New Zealand’s defence purse strings. The government is currently preparing a Defence Capability Plan which will include a major increase in defence spending, minister Judith Collins told 1News last week. “This is a big budget item for us, and it’s going to have to be for quite a long term to make up for the 35 years of feeling that we’re living in this wonderful world where nothing bad could happen.”

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    The BulletinFebruary 28, 2025

    Drums beat louder for new school lunches to be scrapped

    Contributing writer
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    Demanding a return to locally produced meals, the Principals Federation says schools have been patient long enough, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.

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    Bring back old system, urge principals

    The NZ Principals’ Federation (NZPF) has urged associate education minister David Seymour to scrap the new school lunch system, citing widespread food wastage and disruption to learning, Stuff’s Michael Daly reports. In a letter to Seymour, NZPF president Leanne Otene says the “global company” supplying lunches – lead contractor Compass Group – has failed to meet expectations, and calls for a return to locally produced lunches.

    While Seymour has rejected their call, Compass may still be on the chopping block. The company’s contract with the Ministry of Education will be reviewed in term two, when it will be tested on “requirements to deliver ‘palatable’ and nutritious meals on time and in full, meet dietary requirements and minimise waste”, writes Newsroom’s Fox Meyer.

    Complaints about mislabelled lunches, ‘awful’ meals

    Right now, those requirements are a long way from being met. The new centralisd school lunch programme, introduced by Seymour in an attempt to save around $170m a year, has been plagued with issues since the start of the school year. Ham has been found in dishes labelled ‘halal friendly’, students have been handed “vegan” meals containing beef mince, and a complaint has been laid with MPI over special dietary meals – such as those for students with allergies – given to the wrong students. On Wednesday, Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni said Seymour should be sacked for his handling of the programme, RNZ’s Mahvash Ikram reports.

    Beyond the mislabelling problem, there are widespread complaints about the quality of provided meals. Aorere College principal Leanne Webb tells RNZ’s John Gerritsen she’s been disgusted by the “awful” meals provided by subcontractor Pita Pit – but “not Pita Pit as you would recognise it at a Pita Pit shop”. Last month the Herald’s Jaime Lyth reported on complaints among Auckland parents’ of “yuck” and “unidentifiable” meals. One said that on a particular day, “all several hundred” meals were thrown out after none of the students at their child’s school could stomach the food.

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      Temper your expectations, Seymour advises

      While acknowledging teething issues which he says are now being addressed, Seymour argues the complaints have been overblown. “I don’t expect the meals to be the best students have ever eaten. If most students think, ‘Hey these are pretty good’, I think that is a good result,” he said last month.

      Otahuhu College’s Neil Watson is one principal who agrees. Whether students like the lunches is “almost irrelevant”, he tells RNZ’s Gerritsen. “It’s like when we were at school with our school lunches,” he says. “You had marmite and cheese sandwiches and things like that and you ate them because you were hungry.”

      Local suppliers forced to close

      A less obvious impact of the new school lunch system is its ripple effects on the wider community, writes Stuff’s Nadine Roberts. Accompanying Labour leader Chris Hipkins, she visited former workers at Nourish Ōraka, a Christchurch social enterprise set up to deliver meals under the original version of the government’s Healthy School Lunches programme, Ka Ora Ka Ako.

      Nourish Ōraka’s closure was a loss to the whole community, said Hipkins, adding that Ka Ora Ka Ako was designed to do more than just supply meals. “It was also about creating jobs, connecting schools with communities,” he said. “I think we’ve lost a lot of that with the cut price lunches that the government’s now delivering.”