Trump-Zelensky clash highlights Congress at a crossroads over foreign policy

The explosive clash between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House on Friday has sparked a firestorm on Capitol Hill, pitting “America First” Republicans against Ukraine backers from both parties in the ferocious battle over the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Within minutes of the televised Oval Office skirmish, conservatives in both chambers were hailing Trump’s castigation of Zelensky while attacking the Ukrainian leader as an ingrate for challenging Trump’s recent shifts toward Russia.

“It was disrespectful and unbecoming of President Zelensky to disrespect the President and Vice-President of the United States on live television in our cherished Oval Office,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “President Trump rightly pointed out the Russia/Ukraine war could lead to World War lll — this calls for diplomatic leadership not grandstanding and performative behavior on the world stage.”

Trump’s critics had diametrically different views, praising Zelensky’s resolve while accusing Trump of empowering America’s autocratic adversaries — specifically, Russian President Vladimir Putin — at the expense of democratic allies.

“Putin must be overjoyed with today’s theatrics,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote on social platform X.

The dispute is just the latest piece of a much larger debate over America’s global role in protecting democracies against the creep of fascism and the growing influence of totalitarian regimes like those in Russia, China and Iran.

For decades, the GOP was practically defined by its embrace of a muscular foreign policy that favored American intervention around the globe in the name of promoting self-determination and free markets. Trump’s “America First” doctrine turned that orthodoxy on its head, promoting a more isolationist strategy designed to focus U.S. resources on domestic endeavors.

The battleground of Ukraine, where Russia invaded three years ago, has become ground zero of the domestic dispute that’s still raging between those two philosophical camps. And Trump’s supporters, electrified by his decisive victory last November, wasted no time on Friday defending the president’s beratement of Zelensky as a simple act of patriotism.

“Thank you Mr. President and Vice President Vance for putting America first,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) posted on X.

Other Republicans took the additional step of bashing Zelensky for what they saw as a show of impudence for the country that’s spent billions of dollars propping up Ukraine during the war.

“The act displayed by Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was nothing short of a massive show of disrespect for the Trump Administration and the American people,” Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) posted on X.

But Ukraine’s allies — a group that includes Democrats and an old guard of Reagan Republicans — hammered Trump and Vance for scolding an ally on live TV. Those voices were already up in arms over Trump's false claim that Ukraine was responsible for the war with Russia, as well as a recent United Nations vote in which the U.S. sided with Moscow over Kyiv.

Only Putin, they said, has gained an advantage.

“Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine,” said former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a fierce Trump critic.

“History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.”

Even some sitting Republican lawmakers jumped in to criticize their ally in the White House.

“A bad day for America’s foreign policy,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) wrote on X. “Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom.”

The heated Oval Office meeting is poised to have ramifications for the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Capitol Hill, which has grown more and more contentious since Russia’s invasion — and as America First Republicans increase their ranks in the House GOP conference.

Congress has appropriated more than $170 billion for Ukraine since the war broke out, according to Ukraine Oversight, a government group, and many lawmakers are likely to push for more as the conflict drags on.

Yet even before Friday’s spat in the White House, it appeared unlikely that the GOP-led House would stomach additional aid for Ukraine in the near future. During an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told the audience “there’s no appetite for that” when pressed if he could foresee another funding bill for Ukraine. The Speaker asked the crowd “what do you think,” receiving boos in response.

After Friday’s skirmish, the prospect of additional dollars for Ukraine likely dwindled even further.

“I'm glad there will be NO funding for Ukraine,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) wrote on X. “Zelenskyy's disrespect and sense of entitlement is astounding.”

The situation is an interesting one for Johnson, who has been a supporter of Ukraine since he won the gavel in 2023. Last year, the Speaker helped usher a roughly $60 billion aid package for Kyiv through the House, an act that contributed to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) ouster effort — which was defeated with help from Democrats.

On Friday, Johnson backed up Trump — “Thanks to President Trump - the days of America being taken advantage of and disrespected are OVER” — while still blaming Russia for starting the war.

“The death and destruction of the Russian-provoked war needs to stop immediately, and only our American President can put these two countries on a path to lasting peace. President Zelenskyy needed to acknowledge that, and accept the extraordinary mineral rights partnership proposal that President Trump put on the table,” Johnson wrote on X.

“What we witnessed in the Oval Office today was an American President putting America first.”

Across the aisle, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) strongly disagreed, calling the episode an embarrassment for America.

“The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin,” he said.

As for the near future, the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine remains in limbo. After the Oval Office blowup, Trump wrote on Truth Social “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”

“I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE,” Trump added. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Some of Kyiv’s staunchest allies, however, are urging the two countries to come back to the table.

“It was heartbreaking to witness the turn of events that transpired in today’s meeting regarding Ukraine’s future,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a co-chair of the Ukraine Caucus. “It is time to put understandable emotions aside and come back to the negotiation table. This can and will be fixed.”

“A strong, sovereign Ukraine is essential for global stability in the face of Putin’s ongoing aggression. Lasting peace can only be achieved through unwavering strength,” he added. “I am confident that the parties will reconvene in pursuit of a mutually agreeable solution that best serves the interests of the United States of America and Ukraine.

“This is the only acceptable outcome.”

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