Trump praises 'honorable' Portman for corroborating 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 reporting suggests Trump 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.
Portman said he did not disagree with Trump’s main point of world leaders sharing equitable payments to Ukraine but that it was “not fair to Zelensky” to withhold aid because he had just taken office.
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 (R-Ky.) 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 (R-S.C.) 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, according to PolitiFact.
Oma Seddiq contributed to this report.
