President Trump was emphatic on Saturday about hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, stating that he would ‘love to’ have the world leader come to the nation’s capital. 

“I would love to have him come to the White House if he’d like to come, and I think he’d like to come,” Trump told reporters just outside the White House, adding that he thinks Zelensky is a “good man.”

{mosads}Trump’s remarks follow a whirlwind of impeachment proceedings and witness testimony that have taken place over the last month or so. An impeachment inquiry was opened by House Democrats in late September after a whistleblower complaint filed to congress alleged that on a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president, Trump withheld $400 million in military aid in exchange for political investigations into his political rivals.

On Thursday, the House passed a resolution that outlined rules for a formal impeachment process. Notably, hearings and depositions that have been held behind closed-doors, much to the chagrin of House Republicans, will now begin to be held publicly.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that she expects the public hearings to start sometime later this month.