President Trump’s public debacle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky halted hopes for a signed minerals agreement while dividing the world — and Washington — over their support for them both.
Long-simmering tensions between Trump and Zelensky exploded into the open during a heated Oval Office exchange that will have ramifications for the U.S., Russia, Ukraine and all of Europe.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said to Chris Stirewalt on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that the recent heated meeting with President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Vice President Vance was “not how you handle a situation if you want to be a mediator.”
Horsford later added that “it appears that President Trump and Vice President Vance not only are abandoning” Ukraine, but they are also seemingly “abandoning many of our Eastern European allies.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called his vote to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in that meeting with Trump and Zelensky, “a mistake” in a Sunday interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“It was a mistake. I think a lot of us thought that Marco Rubio was going to stand up to Donald Trump on an issue like this,” said Murphy.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in an NBC News “Meet the Press” interview that he believes someone besides Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should lead Ukraine.
However, Sen. James Lankford (R-Olka.) said he doesn’t agree with the calls from some in his party saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should step down.
Some Republicans are looking to include additional cuts in the upcoming government funding bill in an effort solidify Trump’s agenda.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will likely address the battle to secure the successful passage of the legislation required to prevent a government shutdown on March 14 on CNN’s “State of the Union” and on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
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