On the international front, Trump's intervention also scuttled a deal to provide American allies, especially Ukraine the financial aid it needs to repel the invasion of Russia, but also financial aid for Israel and Taiwan.
- Intensive negotiations in the Senate and with the House over President Biden’s proposed $ 109 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in exchange for unprecedented concessions in decades from Democrats to secure the U.S. southern border have stalled in Congress as a result.
- In a Senate Republican meeting on Ukraine, McConnell said that time and the political will to pass a bipartisan immigration and border security compromise may have actually run out already.
- McConnell indicated that there is no longer the desire to find a bipartisan solution to the immigration crisis and Ukraine’s aid package because the “Politics on this have changed,” since former President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants to run his 2024 campaign focusing on immigration.
- “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him,” McConnell said of Trump.
- McConnell wants to win the Senate back this November, and he believes that can’t happen without Trump’s support if he’s the GOP nominee.
Two Singular Leadership Opportunities Being Missed
It appears that Congress is about to miss two singular opportunities to make history and strengthen America internally and internationally for the sake of handing Donald Trump the opportunity to make immigration his focus in the upcoming Presidential election.
Border Deal Discussions
After months of in depth bipartisan negotiations to address what many regard as one of the most difficult domestic issues that has plagued Congress for decades, a deal appeared to be within reach.
The discussions touched not only on border security, but the other important immigration questions that have been awaiting resolution, such as the Dreamers, H1B visa reform, temporary work issues including agricultural workers, asylum claims, the use of humanitarian parole, and a path to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants.
As the New York Times
But then former President Donald Trump intervened causing Republican support to recede because he indicated that he wanted to campaign on the immigration question in the next Presidential election.
Aid To Ukraine
On the international front, Trump’s intervention also scuttled a deal to provide American allies, especially Ukraine the financial aid it needs to repel the invasion of Russia, but also financial aid for Israel and Taiwan.
- Trump claims he can end the war in Ukraine in one day — a promise that has sparked concern from Ukrainian leaders.
- They fear that Trump’s simplistic plan would involve the U.S. attempting to cede Ukrainian land to Russia.
- While he was President, many observers have forgotten that there was an ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the eastern front.
- Despite his claimed friendship with Putin he was unable to resolve it.
Historic Parallel
Anyone familiar with European history can see that today’s political situation eerily parallels the events that led up to the outbreak of World War II.
- Putin’s invasion of Crimea and later occupation of the Donbas, and his current invasion of Ukraine parallels Hitler’s invasion of Austria and military invasion of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia before his declaration of war on Poland.
- But today’s situation in Europe is far graver than at the outset of World War II because of the existence of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Arms Involved This Time
- It is not a question of giving Ukraine a gracious gift but a question of America living up to its commitment in the Budapest Accord.
- In that accord America made a promise to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal, then the third largest in the world, to Russia.
- If America fails to keep its promise American allied countries in NATO, and others such as Taiwan, and South Korea, would seriously question whether America can be relied on as an ally when it counts. Ever!
26 Jan, 2024 07:55HomeWorld News
Trump derailing Ukraine aid package – WaPo
Former US President and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is undermining Republican efforts to strike a border deal with Democrats that will pave the way for more funding from Washington to Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has for weeks been asking Congress to approve a supplemental budget request which includes another $60 billion for Kiev. Republicans have been blocking the package by demanding that the White House does more to address security on the US-Mexico border in return.
The GOP and Democrats have been trying to resolve the impasse, with the potential border deal reportedly revolving around measures to make it harder for migrants to seek asylum and a mechanism to essentially close the frontier when the number of arrivals is extremely high.
However, according to WaPo sources, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that Trump’s opposition to the deal complicates its future. McConnell is said to have described the ex-president as the Republican “nominee” in the 2024 presidential election, explaining that Trump wanted to campaign on the border crisis issue.
- He went on to warn if the GOP rejects the deal, Moscow will prevail in the Ukraine conflict, putting Europe at risk.
- Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has warned that Kiev’s military “will move backward” without Western support while the country’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has described ammo shortages as “a very real and pressing problem.”
Russia has repeatedly condemned Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, warning that they would only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome.
It has also argued that the West’s support for the Kiev regime makes it a direct participant in the hostilities.
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