Republican Rep. Mike Turner Says “You Can’t Be America First and Pro-Russia” as Negotiators Seek to Broker End to War in Ukraine

but you can be Israel first… right Ted?

Careful. That kind of talk sounds suspiciously like he’s growing a spine.

America first= Trump first

I am tired of these performative stunts by GOP congressmen

Republican Mike Turner is about to get a phone call instructing him otherwise. He’ll fall in line and lick the boot like everyone else.

Might start seeing cracks on this.

He’s really not too f*cking bright is he. Go ask your FELON leader.

Does he know what party he’s in?

Remember that Trump promised to end this war on “day one,” but during his first call with Putin, they chatted about their “shared history” and discussed how Trump could help Putin realize his goals and assist Russia in seizing control of a large chunk of Ukrainian land.

Immediately after the phone call, Trump began ranting about how this war is Ukraine’s fault for not conceding its territory to Putin. This is also when Trump started insulting Zelensky in public, repeatedly referring to him as a “dictator.”

Trump also left Ukraine out of peace talks while him and his allies publicly denigrated Zelensky and Ukraine’s leadership for weeks, and without uttering one word of rebuke for Putin.

In fact, the Trump administration conveyed that our European allies were more of a threat to us than Russia, all while Trump was issuing threats against friendly nations and escalating economic and diplomatic tensions between us, our closest trade partners and NATO allies.

Trump likes to say that this war would have never happened under his watch, but he conveniently forgets that he failed to “negotiate” a peace during his first term when Russian sponsored forces were waging war inside of Ukraine’s borders throughout his entire presidency.

Trump had the gall to call Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” ignoring that Ukraine’s constitution forbids elections during war time, and that Putin—an *actual* dictator—has held on to power for a quarter century through elections that have been widely deemed fraudulent by the international community.

The truth is, Trump likely helped accelerate this war in the first place. He even previously called Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “savvy.”

Trump has threatened to withdraw from NATO on a number of occasions. His foreign policy decisions have weakened our western alliances. He’s also been known to parrot Kremlin talking points and propaganda; reiterating some of Putin’s favorite justifications for invading Ukraine and his whitewashing of Russia’s military history. Trump has even repeated Kremlin propaganda about the annexation of Crimea.

And every “deal” Trump has tried to negotiate so far in his second term has involved either extorting Zelensky or giving into Putin’s pressures, and without providing any real specific security guarantees for Ukraine in return.

Over the course of his presidencies, Trump’s actions and rhetoric have helped empower Putin. Trump has defended him on more than one occasion, even siding with him over our own intelligence agencies on matters of national security.

Trump aided Russian proxy wars in Syria; allowing Russian backed forces to seize US military outposts and fill the power void left by Trump’s withdrawal and his abandonment of the Kurds.

Mind you, the Kurds have fought alongside US troops in more wars than Captain bone spurs.

Trump actually once suggested that the US partner with Russia on a cyber security task force. It received swift, bipartisan backlash from lawmakers who had to remind Trump that Russia continues to be one of the US’s most dangerous cyber security threats.

With that said, it’s important to remember that Putin is a dangerous expansionist on a warpath to reincorporate Russia’s old territory. His imperialist ambitions are inspired by a revisionist idea that Russia is destined to become a dominant world superpower. He’s also dedicated to expanding Russia’s oil empire.

Trump is too incompetent, impatient, and reward-driven, among other things, to understand that any overtures of peace from Putin are merely strategic moves meant to give him enough time to recover and reorganize his forces, only to return to war when Putin decides it’s time to pick up where he left off with a freshly equipped and repurposed “special military operation” for Russia’s land grabbing crusade and invasion against the territories of Eastern Europe that once belonged on the peripheries of the Russian empire.

Putin has violated practically every deal he’s ever made. He’s been waging war against his neighbors ever since he came into power. His imperialist dreams will not be thwarted, not by Donald Trump at least.

For Putin, this war is *never* over, for Trump, it is over as soon as he can claim that he “ended” another war for “negotiating” a hollow agreement and an imaginary peace on Putin’s behalf.

The reality is, Trump is not equipped to negotiate anything resembling an end to this war.

Trump is desperate to be awarded for his feckless efforts and to be honored with the title of “peacemaker.” But to do it, he’ll settle for caving into Putin’s demands. Which means Trump will be satisfied with straining our alliances and strengthening Russia’s geopolitical position; with readmitting Putin into the “international club” as it were; with crippling Ukraine’s ability to defend itself; with undermining Ukraine’s nationhood and offering up its territory to Russia with no real security commitments in return.

Trump will settle for any measure of “peace,” which means he’ll settle for a superficial and fragile peace that includes surrendering Ukraine’s territory and independence to Russia. A “peace deal” that satisfies Putin’s ego, his extreme conditions and his land grabbing pursuits.

Trump will settle for a purely one sided agreement that resembles peace in name only. An agreement that deprives Ukraine of its resources and its power to protect its land; making it that much easier for Putin to seize more of its territory when the time is ripe.

Remember that Trump has defended Putin for years, like when he pushed back against claims that Putin is a “killer” who murders, exiles, and jails his political opponents, who suppresses civil liberties and crushes all dissenting voices—methods that Trump no doubt admires.

Trump has even indicated that he’s been taking advice from Putin on how to ~~run~~ steal elections.

Elections in Russia are performative. They are decided well in advance, they are rife with fraud and state-run media basically has a moratorium on election coverage.

This sort of illusion of popular support is what Donald Trump dreams of—it’s no wonder he’s taking advice from a dictator. Trump wants to legitimize authoritarianism at home and consolidate power under a western kleptocracy modeled after the economic tyranny of Putin’s regime.