Weaponizing Words: A Critical Stylistic Investigation of Power Dynamics in Trump–Zelenskyy Meeting

This research analyzes, in terms of critical stylistics, the transcript of the bilateral meeting that took place between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Using Alaghbary (2022) framework for critical stylistics, the analysis uncovers how both leaders construct their political identity, set authority and negotiates ideological positioning during high-stakes diplomacy. This framework analyzes naming and describing, modality, negation, deixis, and representation of speech as means of performing ideology. Methodologically, it is qualitative and segment-based, splitting the transcript into ten thematic sections for systematic critical stylistical analysis. The findings reveal that Trump uses a discourse that is characterized by transactional logic, coercive modality, and hierarchical assertions of power, always demanding gratitude in restaurant prices. On the contrary, Zelenskyy's discourse opens up moral legitimacy, democratic resilience, and collective victimhood, extensively using emotional deixis and negation to counter dominance. The study contributes to political discourse as it shows how stylistic strategies are used to construct asymmetrical relations in diplomatic communication. It offers valuable implications for researchers of discourse, political communication, and diplomatic training by revealing how language mediates global power dynamics.