Gop Hawks Bristle At Trump’s Anti-ukraine Tirade

Republican supporters of Ukraine were left scrambling after President Donald Trump ratcheted up his criticism of Kyiv and wartime President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a stunning rebuke of the U.S. ally.

GOP lawmakers Wednesday distanced themselves from Trump’s condemnation of Ukraine, which included labeling Zelenskyy a “Dictator without Elections” and blaming Kyiv for the war, which began when Russia invaded the country in 2022. Trump, in a social media post that included a range of misleading statements, claimed that the U.S. was duped into spending billions to help Ukraine defend itself.

"Putin started this war. Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator who murdered his opponents. The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine. Zelensky polls over 50%," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a GOP Ukraine supporter, posted on social media, tackling several arguments made by Trump over the past day without naming the president. "Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don’t accept George Orwell’s doublethink."

The rift has erupted as the Trump administration seeks peace talks to end the nearly three-year-long war that Russia started. U.S. negotiators met with Russian officials this week, without Ukraine at the table, to start talks. Ukraine and its allies in Europe — and even some Republicans — have expressed alarm that Kyiv could be cut out of a settlement.

Even compared with the views voiced by most Ukraine aid skeptics in the GOP, Trump’s remarks were particularly strident.

“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a post on Truth Social. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

A day earlier, Trump defended his administration’s plan for peace talks and appeared to blame the conflict on Kyiv. Apparently addressing Zelenskyy, Trump argued: "You should have never started it. You should have made a deal.” Zelenskyy responded that Trump is “surrounded by disinformation” and that he falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war.

Despite a widening gap between the White House and the GOP’s defense wing over Russia, many Republicans weren’t ready to break completely with Trump.

The Senate’s top Republican, Majority Leader John Thune, disagreed with Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy but sidestepped reporters asking whether Trump should walk back the statement. Thune said that in his view “there’s no question who started the war.”

“Russia’s the aggressor here, there’s no question about that, and hopefully we can find a path forward,” Thune said. “The war’s gone on three years now, and I’m hopeful that the discussion will lead us to some sort of agreement that will bring the war to an end.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who visited Ukraine this weekend and is advocating for continued military aid, speculated Trump’s criticism could be targeting longstanding issues with democratic norms and corruption in Ukraine, but rejected the argument that Kyiv is responsible for the conflict.

"There is no [moral] equivalency between Vladimir Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Tillis told reporters. “President Putin is evil, and he has to be stopped."

Asked if he believes Trump will prioritize Ukrainian security interests in the peace talks, Tillis said Trump is “going to hear from several voices here on Capitol Hill that think that that's very important."

Former Trump allies were also quick to pounce. Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, rebuked his former boss. “Mr. President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war,” Pence posted Wednesday. “Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth.”

Some Republican skeptics of Ukraine aid cheered on, including Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who posted on X: “Zelenskyy has laundered billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars into Ukraine. Glad to see [Trump] calling out Ukraine's abuse of the American people's goodwill.”

But most Republicans fell somewhere in the middle, and searching for something nice to say, emphasized Trump’s goal to secure peace while largely sidestepping the details.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Trump is "factually wrong" to label Zelenskyy a dictator and to blame Ukraine for the outbreak of war. But the Trump ally countered that the commander-in-chief could be posturing ahead of peace talks.

"As a negotiator, he's always positioning,” Cramer said, “and he's in a negotiating mood these days.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) likewise told reporters Trump would deliver peace. He and others argued that Putin is the real villain here while stopping short of criticizing Trump.

“To the extent that the White House said that Ukraine started the war, I disagree,” Kennedy said. “I think Vladimir Putin started the war. I also believe, through bitter experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster … I trust this guy like I trust gas station sushi.”

Some former Trump officials also saw Trump’s comments as a sign he was frustrated with the state of play — and still eager for a peace deal.

“You have to listen to the spirit of what Trump says and not the letter of what he says,” said one former defense official who served during Trump’s first term. “He’s constantly saying the war would have never started if he had been president.”

“He thought then and he thinks now that there was a deal to be made and neither Putin nor Zelenskyy were willing to make a deal,” added the former official, who was granted anonymity to speak frankly. “He’s saying, ‘You could have made a deal.’”