President Trump praises the 'honorable' Rob Portman for corroborating his Ukraine aid story
In defending his decision to withhold Ukrainian aid on Wednesday, President Donald Trump brought to light a behind-the-scenes disagreement with a member of his own party: Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Yet despite their rift over that money, Portman has largely corroborated Trump’s explanation for why he withheld money from the Eastern European nation, even though it had been approved by Congress.
Whether Portman agrees with Trump that the president’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “perfect” is another matter.The Ohio lawmaker repeatedly asked the Trump administration why roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine was delayed. While some reportingTrump had stopped the aid in advance of pressing Zelensky to get his government to probe former Vice President Joe Biden, Portman said the president consistently told him it was because he was annoyed with European allies not paying their fair share.“I was given a consistent reason, including from the president himself: That the Europeans weren’t doing enough. And he said finally, ‘OK, I’ll do it,’” Portman explained to reporters last week. “I think he was using that as leverage to get the Germans and other Europeans to do more.” On Wednesday, Trump complimented Portman as “honorable” for backing up his explanation. The president recounted speaking with Portman about their rift earlier this year. “He called up: ‘Please let the money go.’ I said ‘Rob, I hate being the country that's always giving money,’” Trump said. “He said, ‘You know what? But it's important … I gave the money because Rob Portman and others called me and asked. But I don't like to be the sucker and European countries are helped far more than we are.” Trump's remarks came from questioning about what exactly he wanted Zelensky to do in the phone call, a query that was not answered.equitable payments to Ukraine but that it was “not fair to Zelensky” to withhold aid because he had just taken office. poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201910/2391/1155968404_6091303583001_6091303072001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" Yet Portman hasn’t entirely defended Trump’s defense of his phone call with Zelensky, even though the Republican senator strongly disagrees with House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. Trump has said his call with Zelensky was “perfect” but Portman said it would have been preferable to have left Biden out of it. “Would it have been better that he not brought up Biden’s name? Yes,” Portman said last week. “But the rush to judgment by the other body I think is totally unwarranted.” Portman is among a large group of bipartisan senators who have urged administrations in both parties to counteract Russian influence by helping Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also said recently he’d leaned on the Defense secretary and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to deliver the aid and “was not given an explanation” for why it didn’t move. Trump allies say his annoyance with providing aid to allies is consistent when he feels the United States is overpaying. Sen. Lindsey Graham said that in a discussion with Trump last week, the president “wanted to stop payment to South Korea unless they paid more.” “Trump’s always tried to get people to pay more,” Graham told reporters last week. The Trump administration “wanted to find out if the new [Ukraine] administration is reliable … if you’re suggesting that Trump withheld the aid to get the Ukrainian government to do something? I don’t buy it.” European countries have provided Ukraine with billions in financial assistance, though the U.S. has led the way on military aid,
Please follow us on Google to support us United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump attacks Democrats, Giuliani subpoenaed for Ukraine documentsPresident Donald Trump attacked the Democratic lawmaker Adam Schiff spearheading the impeachment inquiry on Monday as congressional committees subpoenaed his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for documents related to his dealings with Ukraine.
Read more »
Fact check: Trump falsely claims whistleblower rules changed just before Ukraine complaintOn Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted a conspiracy theory suggesting the rules for whistleblowing had recently changed in order to accommodate the recent whistleblower complaint against him; specifically, so that someone with secondhand knowledge could now submit these complaints.
Read more »
Trump's Ukraine scandal is 'a lot worse' than Nixon's Watergate, says former Trump adviser'Nixon was a patriot,' J.W. Verret said. 'Of all the crazy things he did, he never would have accepted help from a foreign power for his own personal interest in an election.'
Read more »
It’s No Surprise That a Student Journalist Broke a Major Trump-Ukraine Story'None of us [expected it to go viral]. We were just trying to do our jobs and get it out as quickly as possible.'
Read more »
Trump admin approves new sale of anti-tank weapons to UkraineThe Trump administration has approved the $39 million sale of defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine, according to two U.S. officials and another source familiar with the plan.
Read more »
The Ukraine transcript doesn't prove what Donald Trump thinks it provesAs part of his ongoing attack on a whistleblower complaint filed regarding a July call with the Ukrainian President, Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the transcript of that call shows how wrong the whistleblower actually was about what had transpired.
Read more »