Tough to oversell this point. Trump didn't do this with France, or with Chile, or with Lesotho. He did this with Ukraine, a country that's suffered more to break out of the post-Soviet morass—and combat Russian revanchism—than any other the past 15 years.
Ukraine is the literal front line in the supposed Era of Great Power Competition in which we now live. Trump, and Giuliani, clearly don't care.
And they'd threaten all those gains of the past few years, all for the unprecedented step of getting Zelenskyy to toss dirt on Biden.
And they'd threaten all those gains of the past few years, all for the unprecedented step of getting Zelenskyy to toss dirt on Biden.
‘Fox News has learned that the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council were “unanimous” in supporting the aid to Ukraine, and that Trump acted alone in withholding the aid over the summer.’ foxnews.com/politics/giuli…
Trump and Giuliani 'have twisted U.S. policy in Ukraine to their personal ends... weakening — perhaps critically — a bilateral relationship that is crucial to containing Russian aggression in Europe.' washingtonpost.com/opinions/globa…
'Then came news of the $391 million being held up in Washington. Semeniy said it puzzled him, Danylyuk, and other [Ukrainian] security officials, and sent them into a panicked search for answers.' buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
‘Volker said Thursday that he was never given an explanation about the aid suspension, which analysts called striking.’ washingtonpost.com/world/national…
‘Trump administration officials believed there was a link between Mr. Trump’s decision in July to order a hold on nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine and his interest in having Ukraine investigate 2016 and Mr. Biden.’ wsj.com/articles/trump…
‘When news broke that Mr. Trump had blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine, stunned officials in Kyiv frantically called contacts in the State Department and the Pentagon to learn the reason.’ wsj.com/articles/in-mo…
Some of the words used to describe Kyiv’s reaction to Trump’s hold-up of American aid—“panicked,” “puzzled,” “frantic”—are a good reminder of some of the damage the White House has already done.
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‘The Ukrainians “universally think it’s bad news that Volker left, because they trusted him. And who would take his job now, knowing there might be some backchannel undoing you?”’ politico.com/news/2019/10/2…
'In late July, the Pentagon also alerted the White House that if the funding wasn’t released in time, the Pentagon would be at risk of violating the Impoundment Control Act... But, the White House did not heed the Pentagon’s warnings.' justsecurity.org/66767/exclusiv…
'Trump had made the decision [to withhold military aid from Ukraine] without an assessment of the reasoning or legal justification, according to two White House officials.' washingtonpost.com/politics/white…
