Trump is forcing a generational shift in GOP foreign policy. Here’s how Republicans are responding
Trump is forcing a generational shift in GOP foreign policy. Here’s how Republicans are responding
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress have long been intent on countering America’s rivals and spreading U.S. influence abroad. But when President Donald Trump spelled out a sharp turn from that approach in his recent address to Congress, lawmakers in his party couldn’t help but stand and applaud.
Moves toward a neutral position on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Tariffs on trading partners and allies. Cuts in foreign military and humanitarian aid.
More is sure to come as Trump sweeps Washington with his “America First” agenda. “We’re going to protect our citizens like never before,” he told Congress.
Those ideas have produced some of the most dramatic moments in the early part of his second term, none more so than the Oval Office clash involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Some Republicans who were not shy about countering Trump’s foreign policy ideas during his first term are overwhelmingly standing by him now. It shows not only Trump’s ability to impose his will on his party, but also the extent to which he is ushering in a potentially generational shift in global alliances and power.
“Honestly, it’s a completely different way of looking at the world,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. “How do we avoid having enemies and how do we turn even unfriendly adversaries into no worse than friendly rivals.”
Still, in the weeks since taking office, Trump has handled foreign policy with unpredictable starts and stops.
Twice he has pledged to implement tough tariffs on Mexico and Canada, only to pause them. He has suggested the U.S. should take ownership of Gaza, Greenland and the Panama Canal, only to have his administration distance itself from such notions. And he has berated Zelenskyy, paused military aid to Ukraine and engaged in friendlier relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Here’s how members of Congress navigated Trump’s foreign policy moves this past week:
The Oval Office blowup with Zelenskyy
The open display of animosity between Trump and Zelenskyy had many Republicans on edge as they began the week.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, repeatedly declined to speak to reporters about the exchange.
Another senior Republican who had previously been supportive of Zelenskyy, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, seemed to make a dramatic shift. After a deal to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral riches fell apart, Graham suggested that the Ukrainian president should resign.
Then, as Zelenskyy and Trump raised the prospect of revived talks, Graham praised the deal as an “implicit security guarantee” for Ukraine because it would give Trump a business incentive for ensuring that Russia does not continue to take Ukrainian territory.
“President Trump’s a business guy. You got to make business,” Graham said, adding that the “America First” policy was a “hybrid” from the GOP’s days of “Reagan Republicans.”
“I see it as a reevaluation of traditional alignments, a outside-the-box-view of talking to traditional foes, but the reason I support it is because I think this hybrid approach is actually smart,” Graham said.
Other Republicans who are opposed to Ukraine aid were delighted to see Trump sour on Zelenskyy.
“What we’re seeing, which is a bit of a shock to the system, is a president that’s prioritizing American interests,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
The president’s address to Congress
The only part of Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night that drew more applause from Democrats than Republicans was when the president spoke of how the U.S. had sent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. On the Democratic side of the House chamber, members unfurled a small Ukrainian flag and wore scarfs of blue and gold.
On the Republican side, displays of support for Ukraine were hard to find. A few members wore lapel pins with the American and Ukrainian flags.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who was one of the only GOP lawmakers to defend Zelenskyy this past week, said he was wearing the pin to send the message that “I support Ukraine and that I think that Vladimir Putin is a liar. And the minute that we think there’s any redeeming quality from him, we’ve made a mistake.”
Wicker, who also wore a pin Tuesday, said during a committee meeting that day that he hoped “to heaven” that Trump and Zelenskyy would reenter talks and that “friends decide to move on” after conflicts. As Trump spoke of Ukraine that night, Wicker sat on the edge of his seat.
“It’s time to end this senseless war,” Trump said, adding he wanted to speak to both sides.
A new generation of advisers
Republicans are not just worried about the future of Ukraine.
During a Senate hearing, Republican hawks such as Wicker and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas closely questioned Elbridge Colby, Trump’s nominee for the top policy job at the Pentagon, about his ideas, which in the past have included a drawdown of military aid to Ukraine, a greater tolerance for Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and softening the U.S. position that it would help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Wicker also questioned Colby on whether he agreed with recently hired Pentagon advisers such as Michael DiMino, who has argued for reducing U.S. involvement in the Middle East, or Andrew Byers, who is in favor of a less confrontational approach to China.
Colby laid out his view that the U.S. cannot currently afford to be involved in countering multiple adversaries. But he also seemed to placate the senators by suggesting Iran could become an “existential threat” to the U.S.
Democrats repeatedly pressed Colby to say that Russia had started its war by invading Ukraine. Colby declined to do so, saying that the Trump administration was in a delicate negotiation with both countries.
Democrats try to rally support for Ukraine
As Trump changed America’s position on the war in Ukraine. Democrats took to the Senate floor Wednesday evening to try to pass a series of resolutions declaring U.S. support for repelling Russia’s invasion and decrying alleged war crimes by the Kremlin.
Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, objected, blocking the resolutions. He said he agreed with the sentiment, but that it was unhelpful to the negotiations underway.
“Everybody wants the same outcome and that is to have peace in Ukraine,” Risch said. “There is one man on this planet, one man that can make that happen, and that is Donald J. Trump.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who led the Democrats’ effort, responded by saying he had hoped Republicans could have agreed on rebuking Putin.
“Mr. Putin, you started this terrible war,” Sanders said. “You’re acting illegally. You’re acting barbarically. Stop that war.”
By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press
