{"id":535,"date":"2025-03-02T14:29:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T14:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/02\/what-u-s-lawmakers-are-saying-about-zelensky-and-trumps-oval-office-clash-time\/"},"modified":"2025-03-02T14:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T14:29:57","slug":"what-u-s-lawmakers-are-saying-about-zelensky-and-trumps-oval-office-clash-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/02\/what-u-s-lawmakers-are-saying-about-zelensky-and-trumps-oval-office-clash-time\/","title":{"rendered":"What U.S. Lawmakers Are Saying About Zelensky and Trump\u2019s Oval Office Clash – TIME"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Key Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been stalwart supporters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the blowup between the Ukrainian leader and President Donald Trump is threatening to change that.<\/p>\n

Zelensky had traveled to Washington to sign a deal that would give the U.S. access to its mineral riches as Trump attempts to pressure Ukraine into a deal to end the war with Russia. Although support for Ukraine has waned among GOP congressional members in the three years since Russia invaded, key Republicans hoped the deal would revive American support for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Instead, the fallout from a heated Oval Office exchange between Trump, Zelensky and Vice President J.D. Vance has many Republicans \u2014 even those who previously backed Ukraine \u2014 scolding Zelensky. For other GOP lawmakers who have long criticized U.S. support for Ukraine, the exchange was an opportunity to laud Trump for berating Ukraine’s leader. And for Democrats, it was proof that Trump is playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

Here’s what congressional lawmakers are saying as the future of Ukraine hangs in the balance:<\/p>\n

Republicans who have supported Ukraine in the past<\/h2>\n

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina<\/h3>\n

Graham called the meeting a \u201ccomplete, utter disaster\u201d and said he\u2019s \u201cnever been more proud\u201d of Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I saw in the Oval office was disrespectful and I don\u2019t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again.”<\/p>\n

SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO<\/h3>\n

\u201cThank you @POTUS for standing up for America in a way that no President has ever had the courage to do before. Thank you for putting America First. America is with you!\u201d<\/p>\n

HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe 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 Zelensky needed to acknowledge that, and accept the extraordinary mineral rights partnership proposal that President Trump put on the table. What we witnessed in the Oval Office today was an American President putting America first.\u201d<\/p>\n

REP. DON BACON, Nebraska<\/h3>\n

\u201cA bad day for America\u2019s foreign policy. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

REP. MIKE LAWLER, New York<\/h3>\n

\u201cDiplomacy is tough and often times there are serious differences of opinion and heated exchanges behind closed doors. Having this spill out into public view was a disaster \u2014 especially for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt was heartbreaking to witness the turn of events that transpired in today’s meeting regarding Ukraine’s future. It is time to put understandable emotions aside and come back to the negotiation table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans who are opposed to Ukraine aid<\/h2>\n

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri<\/h3>\n

\u201cRemember: the U.S. Senate has repeatedly and for years voted BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine with no strings attached and with no true oversight. It\u2019s time for some ACCOUNTABILITY.”<\/p>\n

SEN. MIKE LEE, Utah<\/h3>\n

\u201cThank you for standing up for OUR COUNTRY and putting America first, President Trump and Vice President Vance!\u201d<\/p>\n

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas<\/h3>\n

\u201cNot another penny.\u201d<\/p>\n

REP. ANDY BIGGS, Arizona<\/h3>\n

“Dictator Zelensky had the audacity to disrespect President @realDonaldTrump and VP @JDVance during what should have been a friendly meeting, and @POTUS rightfully showed him the door. This is the leadership America has craved for four years.”<\/p>\n

Democrats, who as a party overwhelmingly support Ukraine<\/h2>\n

SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER, New York<\/h3>\n

\u201cTrump and Vance are doing Putin\u2019s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES, New York<\/h3>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s White House meeting with the President of Ukraine was appalling and will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin, a brutal dictator. The United States must not reward Russian aggression and continue to appease Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut<\/h3>\n

\u201cMy strong and passionate hope is that the talks can be resumed or restored, and this event won\u2019t derail continued support.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI have very strong hopes that the coalition we have in Congress \u2014 and it is a very strong bipartisan coalition \u2014 will be persuasive to the administration and others that we have a long-term national security interest in Ukraine prevailing over Putin\u2019s brazen aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota<\/h3>\n

\u201cAnswer to Vance: Zelensky has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly. And our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe. Shame on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, Connecticut<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt was a planned ambush designed to embarrass President Zelensky in order to benefit Vladimir Putin. That was an embarrassment. That was an abomination. What you watched was American power being destroyed in the world as everybody watches President Trump become a lapdog for a brutal dictator in Moscow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Key Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been stalwart supporters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the blowup between the Ukrainian leader and President Donald Trump is threatening to change that. Zelensky had traveled to Washington to sign a deal that would give the U.S. access to its mineral riches as Trump attempts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}