Has Zelensky won Trump's trust?

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0:41Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. Coming to you live from London, I'm Rajini Vaidinarvan. It remains one of the most defining meetings of President Trump's second term, that now infamous Oval Office Exchange, where the president and his vice president J.D. Vance met Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky in February 2025. They clashed over the Ukraine conflict with President Trump accusing President Zelensky of gambling with World War Three. Let's have a listen back to some of that conversation. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel. I'm not telling you.

1:19Because you're in no position to dictate that. Remember, you're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards. I'm not playing cards. Right now, you're playing cards. You're playing cards. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III. It's hard to forget that, isn't it? Well, the pair have met since. And today, the Ukrainian president was back at the White House. This time, The cameras were off. We did get a few posts on social media afterwards instead.

1:58President Zelensky said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump and that they discussed America's offer to issue licences for Patriot air defence missiles. We'll discuss that more in a few moments.

2:18The President Zelensky was in Washington to attend the funeral of the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Trump's and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Mr Graham, who represented South Carolina, died in July at the age of 71. As mourners gathered under the dome of the US Capitol building in the Rotunda, Senator Graham's casket, draped in a US flag, was carried in by uniformed members of the American military. And in the last half hour or so, President Trump was among those paying tribute. By the strength of his steadfast convictions, the force of his magnetic personality and the goodness of his noble soul, Lindsay Rhodes, from a small town in rural South Carolina, a place he loved so much, to become a constant fixture of American politics at the highest level and a force to be reckoned with all over the world.

3:17Well, Senator Graham was also a close ally of Israel. And its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also travelled to America to attend the funeral. And while he was in town, he also met with President Trump. Well, our correspondent in Washington, Gary O'Donoghue, has been following all of those meetings. I began by asking him about the tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu in recent weeks over the approach to the war in Iran. Yeah, tensions and different goals, effectively, really, which we kind of knew all along. But with this sort of cessation in the bombings over the last few nights, those goals are made more clear and more stark.

3:58And I think that's why Benjamin Netanyahu not only wanted to come to Washington for the funeral of Lindsey Graham, but also to see President Trump. He's just posted, Benjamin Netanyahu, that is, that it was one of the best, I think the best, the best meet he'd ever had with the president, talked about similar war goals. I mean, that it's pretty benign language, if you like. It doesn't give much away about the substance of what they discussed, but it is pretty warm. And I think that that's something that we'll have to work out in the next few hours and days, whether he got any kind of proper reassurances for the president about the future course of this conflict.

4:36Because, of course, for Israel, which sees this as an existential conflict, the war aims are not yet met. Speaking of conflicts, we also know that President Trump met with President Zelensky. From all we've heard, we didn't see cameras this time, did we, Gary? But from all we've heard, it sounds like that one went quite well. Well, it certainly went better than the one we do remember from February last year, when the whole thing completely erupted into a total diplomatic disaster, an international incident, really, you'd have to call it. And I think there's been a sea change there as well. You've seen in the last few weeks, particularly at the NATO summit in Ankara, The words from President Trump becoming much warmer towards Volodymyr Zelensky.

5:24Concrete things like discussions about the licensing for Ukrainians to build their own patriot missiles to defend their cities. Concrete things like that. And also, intriguingly, some potential movement in parts of Donald Trump's sort of MAGA base here in their attitude towards Ukraine. There's a leading activist, Laura Loomer, who's been converted to the cause of Ukraine, having visited there. And there are others who started to move in that direction. Of course, Lindsey Graham was a big proponent of backing Ukraine, even when that was an unpopular view in the White House. That's Gary O'Donoghue speaking to me a short while ago from Washington.

6:06Well, as we mentioned earlier, the issue of America supplying long-range Patriot missiles to Ukraine was discussed again when Presidents Trump and Zelensky met earlier. Securing these Patriot interceptors has been high on Ukraine's wish list for months. Well, I've been speaking to Katie Livingstone. She's the Ukraine correspondent for Military Times and Defense News. She's in Kyiv. And she told me that ballistic missiles from Russia have been the most dangerous weapon Ukraine's had to face during the war. It's the one thing that Ukrainian forces have not been able to regularly take down. And it's really a technological issue.

6:45Anti-ballistic interceptors are one of the most technologically complicated systems, weapon systems ever. And so to create the Patriot missiles really have a monopoly on that now. And so the expansion of that market really can help patch the gap in Ukrainian defences. Realistically, how easy will it be for Ukraine to get these? How quickly and how could they use them? Yeah, well, that question is on the top of everyone's mind. You know, it takes years to produce Patriot missiles. That's been the crux of the problem. Ukraine is now trying to push the creation, the manufacturing of these Patriot missiles and their own Freya interceptor system.

7:29And they want something on the battlefield by the end of this year, they said, which is almost hard to believe. But Ukraine does have a track record of, you know, speeding up processes that other militaries said would take years, and they've done it in months. So we'll see. And the urgency for Ukraine to produce its own Patriots has, of course, increased since the war with Iran. How easy will it be to do this, even if you say once everything's sort of in place by the end of the year? Right. It's a matter of political will in a lot of ways. The technology is there. If everyone can get together and sign the paperwork, the bureaucratic steps that are necessary, there's no reason Ukraine can't really speed up the process in a historical way.

8:16Even Lockheed Martin itself, which is, of course, the primary manufacturer of the PAC-3 missile and the interceptor system, they recently announced that they'll be producing like a cheaper PAC-3 missile. And although they didn't reference any of these other concurrent anti-ballistic initiatives, one can imagine that it all goes together. In any event, it definitely is all from the Iran war, as you mentioned, is from the shortage of that conflict. And how optimistic are people in Kyiv that these licenses will be issued and then, of course, the actual missiles will be produced? Because, of course, we often hear mixed messages from the White House when it comes to Ukraine, don't we?

8:56Right. I think, you know, people in Ukraine, they have been doing this for years now, right? So they understand the difference between political promises and actual changes on the ground. But people are hopeful about this. You know, as we've reported, this is the first time that any that Trump or any American official has granted Ukraine the ability to produce these these weapons. And Ukraine has already spoken with the various companies involved, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, particularly with President Zelensky coming out with an announcement about an hour ago, I think, saying that he had another meeting with Lockheed Martin and they are moving forward.

9:35So things are going very quickly. And that's what people like to see. That's Katie Livingstone, the Ukraine correspondent for Military Times and Defence News.

9:47Fresh off the World Cup and FIFA's President Gianni Infantino's announced a plan to create a multi-billion dollar company with stakes held by private shareholders to govern the World Cup and other top competitions. European football's governing body UEFA has reacted furiously, saying the proposal crossed a line. It's warned that football's soul and governance weren't assets to trade. FIFA claims it wants to grow the game. Some media reports claim Infantino himself could earn tens of millions of dollars out of the plan. Well, is it a proposal to privatise the World Cup? The BBC's sports correspondent, Nesta McGregor, has been telling me more.

10:28The World Cup final was less than two weeks ago. Spain lifted the trophy. And here we are talking about FIFA's next big thing. You put it quite nicely, but in layman terms, FIFA says it wants to expand football development funding to over$10 billion. Obviously, that's subject to approval from its member associations. And FIFA says if that does go ahead, every corner of the world would benefit. That money would be recouped if they were to create a private company called FIFA Ford Enterprise. Through it, minority investors would aim to maximise FIFA's commercial rights. So that's things like broadcast deals, licensing and ticket sales.

11:05And FIFA does remain adamant that this would never affect the governance of the game. So things like the rules and the match calendar, for example. But Nesta, there are questions over that. First of all, over who some of the potential backers might be, because we've seen some reports that people close to the Trump administration could be among them. Yeah, one of the staunchest critics is UEFA and FIFA already have a fractious relationship. UEFA is European football's governing body. Their statement was really very strong. It says that this crosses the line that football's governing institutions should never cross.

11:40It says the sole and governance of football are not assets to trade and that none of us are the owners of football. It's not FIFA's to sell. As you mentioned, the private equity companies involved and some of the names touted around have been seen as having very close links, as you mentioned, to current FIFA president Gianni Infantino. There's been a war of words between UEFA and FIFA because one thing, Regini, football continues to grow, the calendar doesn't. So if the World Cup gets bigger, for example, if the World Cup is every two years, something will have to give. And that's even before we start talking about player welfare or the impact on the environment, for example.

12:17And just very briefly, Nesta, Gianni Infantino could personally benefit from this apparently too. Yeah, he's already one of the most powerful men on the planet, isn't he? And when you consider he spent the last six weeks side by side with President Trump, it's debatable if his likability factor has improved, but his profile certainly has. The 2026 World Cup proved football is as big as it's ever been. There's an appetite for it. What role Gianni Infantino will play remains to be seen though. That's the BBC's Nesta McGregor there. And we are getting more reaction to this FIFA proposal. This reaction from Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the social media platform X saying, let me say this very directly, football does not belong to investors.

12:58It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine. He goes on to say the World Cup's not a product. It's the greatest competition in world sport and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you've sold a piece of it, you've sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has and it always will. Well, there's plenty more on the sports pages of the BBC News website as well, bbc.com forward slash news. You're listening to NewsHour.

13:34This is Rajini Vaidyanarvan with NewsHour, coming to you live from the BBC in London. In Japan, dozens of people are still unaccounted for after a powerful earthquake hit the island of Kaiushu, which is southwest of the capital, Tokyo. The earthquake was estimated at a 6.8 magnitude by the US Geological Survey. Rescue efforts are focused on a shopping mall in the city of Kumamoto, where the second floor collapsed while people were still shopping. Many customers were helped to safety, but it's been reported that 20 to 30 employees are still missing, while other people are also unaccounted for after a chimney collapsed at a paper factory.

14:16Japan's Prime Minister, Sanae Takeichi, said authorities are still assessing the devastation.

14:25We have already confirmed extensive damage, including casualties, collapsed buildings, damaged roads and fires. I'd first like to extend my deepest sympathies to all those affected by the disaster. Well, the earthquake struck just before 4.30pm local time. Felix Umland was on the 13th floor of a hotel in Kagoshima. That's about 175 kilometres from the epicentre when he recorded this.

14:57The sound there of cups and plates crashing around as that earthquake struck. Well, I've been speaking to Felix, who's a German photography student, about what happened. So I was sitting on the 13th floor of my hotel. They have like a little restaurant up there. I just went up there to do a little bit of work on my laptop. And suddenly my phone just starts blaring and everybody's phone around. There weren't that many people, only two other staff members, I think, apart from me. And suddenly everybody's phone started blaring with an earthquake alert. and I looked at it and I was like, that's funny.

15:36I don't know what to do now. And about like five seconds later, everything started shaking. And I felt some smaller earthquakes before. I've been in Asia for about six months now. So I felt some smaller ones, but not that high up in a building because the taller the building, the more it gets amplified. And even though I was quite far away from the center. Even though I was quite far away, just the amplification through this tall building was really strong and just everything started moving. I looked around, suddenly saw the one waitress running out of the kitchen and behind her, the glasses are smashing, everything's falling down.

16:22She has this really panicked look on her face and I was like, okay, I really don't know what to do. um there's really not much you can do but it's also it happens quite quickly i think it was only like 45 seconds maybe it felt a lot longer but the video i took was about 45 seconds it feels very surreal because it feels like the entire building beneath you kind of turns into a liquid it's it's very surreal it feels like this you're standing on top of this rubbery thing instead of like a solid building it's just moving and snaking below you it's very very weird and did you run for cover at that point when you're looking at all these glasses falling and breaking in the distance in the restaurant I mean where did you go and where was everyone going and what were they saying the cook suddenly appeared out of nowhere running to the kitchen I think to see what was happening.

17:20I know you're supposed to take cover below a table or something, but that was, I don't know, I kind of just stood there. I kind of froze just standing in the middle of the restaurant together with the waitress. And I didn't really know how to react. I just stood there and waited until it was over. And then I was evacuated out. They said through the speakers in the building that nobody's supposed to use the elevators and that we should evacuate through the emergency staircase. And Japan is equipped more than many countries for earthquakes because of the number of earthquakes that have hit the country.

18:02So presumably the building was able to withstand some of the shock. The buildings in Japan are designed to kind of sway together with earthquakes instead of being rigid and cracking under that pressure. So I guess it was what was supposed to happen. And it is quite a modern hotel. So I'm pretty glad I'm not in an older one. So I'm very glad that it did what it was designed for. But it just feels very weird. And now even a couple hours later, there have been a lot of aftershocks, actually, a lot of smaller ones. but you know this feeling when you get off a boat and go back onto land and you just kind of feel like the ground is still moving that's kind of what I think it's quite common to experience that after after a larger earthquake and feeling like that all day.

18:57That's Felix Umland a German photography student in Kagoshima about 175 kilometers from the epicenter. Well let's get more now on that shopping mall in the city of Kumamoto where the second floor collapsed and rescue efforts there are ongoing. Well, John Geddy in Tokyo has been covering that story for the Reuters News Agency. Yeah, this has certainly been one of the most eye-catching moments of the evening. There was this shopping mall, which is actually the biggest shopping mall in the prefecture of Kumamoto. There was a blast within the shopping mall. We still don't know exactly what caused it.

19:35as a result of that, you know, the whole front of this shopping mall was basically, you know, torn down, exposing these steel beams behind it. Debris spewed out all across the front of the parking area. There's about 20 to 30 people missing. Rescue teams are on the ground. There are scores of ambulances and fire trucks and, you know, dozens of rescue workers trying to get to people inside this now wrecked shopping mall. So we don't know the extent yet of the damage. Obviously, the images and the exterior of what we're seeing is pretty terrifying. We have to wait and find out exactly to what extent the toll is there.

20:19The operator of the mall said that they managed to evacuate around 200 people after the initial quake that were in them all. And so they still don't know how many people were left. The Kumamoto province, the prefecture that you mentioned there, is that an area that has been prone to earthquakes in the past and where else has been hit? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, of course, you know, Japan is the most sizically active country in the world. But Kumamoto has had its share of big quakes before. In fact, a decade ago, there was a very large earthquake that hit Kumamoto. The people of Kumamoto are aware this is always a risk, as are many people in Japan.

21:06But yes, it has a very sad history of this place of having to deal with big disasters like this. And you talked about the shopping mall. What other parts of that area have been hit? I mean, I'm just looking at some images. I think a bridge that almost looks like it's been snapped in half. We've seen images of buildings that are burning, buildings that are collapsed or partially collapsed. The authorities say they've had multiple reports of people trapped inside buildings or that are needing rescued. Road infrastructure, as you say, there have been multiple images of highways that have been, you know, almost completely ruptured.

21:42Big cracks in them are partially collapsed and long queues of traffic snarling on major expressways. You know, rail services have completely stopped. There were, you know, several people that were injured on high-speed trains that were, you know, flying down there at the time of the incident. And all flights in and out of Kumamoto Airport have been halted as well. So, you know, widespread disruption to travel and infrastructure. That's John Geddy from the Reuters News Agency in Tokyo. and we're hearing that at least 45 medical facilities in Kumamoto have suffered damage as a result of that earthquake.

22:22That's according to a report by the Japanese Health Ministry. You're listening to NewsHour.

22:31You're listening to NewsHour from the BBC. Welcome back to NewsHour. Now, there's been a lot of buzz around wearable technology, with Google and Apple scheduled to release their own versions of Meta's smart glasses in the months ahead. There's also growing concern about privacy issues. This weekend, the promoter behind some of the biggest comic and entertainment conventions in the UK banned Meta glasses and other wearable recording devices after complaints about the secret filming of guests. But there's also a positive side. They can improve the ability of people with a visual impairment or hearing loss so they can perform tasks the rest of us take for granted.

23:11Well, Clark Reynolds is a blind artist who creates works in Braille, and he uses Meta glasses in his daily life. He's been speaking to my colleague, James Kamarasamy. They're just like normal glasses, very stylish, very retro. It doesn't look like you're filming anyone. They look like you're part of any attire. It just so happens they've got built-in cameras. And when I say magic words, hey Meta, look or it reads menus. it can guide me around supermarkets it does so much more than what it's written on the tin and it helps you in your art tell us about how you use them so obviously as a blind artist and i use color i use a lot of spray paint so i'm in my studio if i need a color i'll put my glasses on and say hey meta look read and it'll tell me what color i'm using you you're doing this on your own but there's also you've got ai helping you there but there's also this database of volunteers isn't there.

24:02This is called Be My Eyes. It's an app. And I think that's what you used when you were running the Brighton Marathon. I did. So I became the first blind person in the world to run a marathon using smart technology and the app Be My Eyes. And the Be My Eyes app is amazing. It's a free app, 10 million volunteers to 1 million vision impaired users. And the idea is they take over those cameras at real time. And usually if you're in a shop or you get dressed and you'll say, for instance, is this a red jumper or is this a blue jumper? And they'll say, either which. Now, you acknowledged in your first answer that you'd heard about the Comic-Con ban and you acknowledged that there are these concerns about privacy and how irresponsible people might use them.

24:44Do you sympathise with those concerns? Of course. Every technology, you're always going to get people that are going to misuse it. It's like people that get into a car. Obviously, it's really strange. So, you know, back in the day when everyone's got their phone out, you know, they still were called in. is just because they can physically see that phone, even though we're still recording with our glasses. Now, I commented on that Comic-Con post because I don't think they realised that the blind community used these to have independence. So I put down, what if a blind person wanted to use them to navigate in asking questions?