How Trump's 'The Art of the Deal' helped South Korean president dodge a ‘Zelenskyy moment’ at White House

Before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reached White House, Donald Trump took to social media to threaten not to do business with Seoul because of a “Purge or Revolution” that he claimed was taking place in the country. But any prospect of a hostile Oval Office meeting evaporated after Lee heaped praise onto the US president — lauding the decor, beseeching Trump to continue to help with Korean peace efforts and even suggesting a Trump Tower in North Korea.

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA?” President Donald Trump said on Monday morning. “Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there.”

“My staff were worried that we might face a Zelenskyy moment,” Lee said at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies after the summit, apparently referring to a public spat during the Ukrainian leader’s February meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.


Lee kept his cool, however, confident that he had done his homework after weeks of meticulous preparation.

“I had read President Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal,” Lee told the forum in Washington. “As a technique in negotiating, he presents conditions that are hard to accept for the opponent. But at the final stage he does not come to an unreasonable conclusion.”

Lee, elected in June, began by praising one of Trump's pet projects: presidential interior design.

“I heard that you recently redecorated the Oval Office, and I would like to say that it looks very bright and beautiful,” Lee said through an interpreter. “It has the dignity of America, and it symbolizes the new future and prosperity of America.”

He noted that the Dow Jones index has reached record highs (although Lee made sure to add the caveat that “it went down a bit”) and asked Trump, who has been on a mission to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, to reunify the two Koreas and even perhaps see the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea accompanied by a round of golf. Lee also agreed with Trump's assertion that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would not have continued to enhance his nuclear capabilities the last few years had Trump remained in office.

Noting a “renaissance” that is taking place, Lee said, “I believe you are the only leader who has made such accomplishments.”

What happened in South Korea

The tone was a far cry from Trump's confrontational social media post earlier Monday. He later elaborated that he was referring to raids on churches and on a U.S. military base by the new South Korean government, which they “probably shouldn't have done."

“I heard bad things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday morning. “I don't know if it's true or not. I'll be finding out.”

Trump did not identify specific raids. But earlier this month, South Korean police raided a church led by a conservative activist pastor who authorities allege is connected to a riot by Yoon’s supporters at a Seoul court in January, after it issued an arrest warrant for him.

A special prosecutor’s team that is investigating corruption allegations against Yoon’s arrested wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, also raided the facilities of the Unification Church over allegations that one of its officials gave her luxury goods.

Meanwhile, Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by the United States and South Korea, was also the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Yoon’s activation of martial law transpired. South Korean investigators stressed the search was limited to areas controlled by Seoul and did not involve U.S. military operations.