Hot take: Zelenskyy could've done better in the white house

We all know Trump and Vance are huge narcissist, and needs their ego fed in international negotiations. Instead of Zelensky fact-checking and debating with them on television, the better way to handle the situation was to just play along and give the praises they wanted to hear in turn for potential continued us support on the war with Russia. Because at the end of the day, it is him coming in to ask for something from the US, which is unfortunately run by bullies, and he could very much get a better deal if he just sacrificed some ego in front of tv.

Trump and Vance obviously came in with a prefixed view (doesn't matter right or wrong), that wasn't possible to change in the duration of the meeting. Vance's words also seemed like he was either trying to pull a power play, or to bait Zelenskyy into a fight with Trump. Zelensky shouldn't have taken it and should've just play the image Trump wishes him to play. This might seem humiliating, but it's the reality when you don't hold key leverage in a negotiation. If he has done that, he will be remembered as a leader who was willing to sacrifice his ego to save his country. That was not the right hill for him to fight and die on, as thousands of Ukrainians are dying on the frontline.

I just think its a bad choice to debate Trump, who he knows is a bully and take any fact checking or disagreement as an offense. Not saying Trump or Vance acted any better (far worse in my opinion but that's beside the point), but his actions wasted the weeks efforts of world leaders sweet talking trump, which led up to this meeting that hopefully could've guaranteed some US backing in exchange for a mineral deal. (again unjust in my opinion but beside the point)

Now everything is back to a reset, US has lost its international respect as the leader of the free world, and Ukraine future looks grimmer. Even if Zelensky somehow made up with trump and ended up signing a deal, it would at best the same deal he could've reached today, but later, and more soldiers dying in the frontline.

edit:
1) to the people questioning my 4 year account, I'm not a active reddit user, I occasionally browse reddit for solutions on tech related issues, first time posting something at all. I'm a 20 year man who don't usually care about politics and consider myself a centrist in most issues.
2) to the ones saying I should blame trump and vance, I 100% agree with you, how they have acted was neither justified or mannered, but that wasn't the point of this post. I trying to say that in a tough situation like Zelensky was in, could he have just "gave the bullies what they want" in exchange for some security. I know redditors are usually idealist who imagine a perfect world where justice prevails, but that's just not the case in real life, especially when you're dealing with narcissists.