On the first day of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, Republican politicians were muted in their response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
from a Wednesday fundraiser in Florida showed Trump calling Putin"smart" for moving in on Ukraine"for $2 worth of sanctions."
Trump was friendly to Putin throughout his presidency. At one notorious 2018 news conference with Putin, Trump called the Russian leader's denials of 2016 election interference"Danielle Pletka, distinguished senior fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, agreed that earlier and more forceful sanctions from Biden would have been more useful in deterring Putin.
She also noted that foreign policy ideologies don't always break down neatly along party lines — neither major party, she pointed out, is made up entirely of either isolationists or interventionists."I haven't parsed his somewhat-confusing statements, both condemning and at the same time admiring and at the same time deploring what has happened," Pletka said.
Trump is set to speak at CPAC on Saturday night in a speech sure to be closely watched for any comments on the situation in Ukraine.Danielle Kurtzleben is a political correspondent assigned to NPR's Washington Desk. She appears on NPR shows, writes for the web, and is a regular on The NPR Politics Podcast. She is covering the 2020 presidential election, with particular focuses on on economic policy and gender politics.