Mike Johnson has tried to push through the aid package for Ukraine, but his own party has opposed it.
Help package instead, the United States could grant Ukraine a loan, suggests the former president who is running for the White House again in the November elections Donald Trump.
Trump and the speaker of the Republican-majority House of Representatives Mike Johnson met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday. Part of the reason for Johnson's visit was already assessed in advance as the probing of Trump's position on aid to Ukraine.
Johnson has tried to push through the aid package for Ukraine, but his own party has opposed it. The “Trumpian wing” of the Republicans has proposed replacing aid with loans already before.
“We are considering giving it as a loan and not just a gift. We're constantly giving billions and billions worth of gifts, and we're thinking about this,” said Trump at a press conference after the meeting.
Among other things, the US media report on the comments The New York Times and CNN.
With Trump will have a significant impact on Republican opinion and Johnson's continuation as Speaker.
Trump supporters ousted the previous speaker by Kevin McCarthy Republican who became the leader of the “Trumpites”. Marjorie Taylor Greene has threatened Johnson with the same fate.
Johnson has sought to make the $95 billion (about 89 billion euros) aid package more palatable to his party by bringing it to a vote along with another package that includes lures that Republicans like, such as measures related to border control. Johnson's plan also includes selling frozen Russian assets to finance aid.
In addition to aid to Ukraine, aid to Israel is also tied to the package. It, in turn, arouses opposition from some of the Democratic representatives.
“I support aid to Ukraine, but this proposal is tied to unconditional arms funding for Israel, which I cannot support. I hope that we will soon get the vote on Ukraine only, which I will be happy to support, processed,” said on Friday message service in X a Democratic member of the House of Representatives Mark Pocan.
Trump also said that Europe should help Ukraine more because “[tilanne] influence [eurooppalaisiin] more than [yhdysvaltalaisiin]”.
European countries' aid to Ukraine has, however, wavered and been insufficient in some places. On Friday Financial Times magazine reported that European countries have again refused to supply their anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.
Trump has already said in the past that the United States should not grant any aid to other countries “without the hope of repayment or without 'conditions'”.
In 2019 Trump faced his first impeachment, as he was suspected of making demands from the president of Ukraine From Volodymyr Zelensky information about the current president Joe Biden about the boy About Hunter Biden in return for arms aid, that is quid pro quo. Information Trump would have liked to use in his 2020 presidential campaign.
Trump denied the charges, and they were eventually rejected by the then-Republican-majority Senate.
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