Seeing is believing
The 2024 Republican presidential candidates are all over the map regarding today’s top international crisis: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But former president Donald Trump’s mix of pro-Putin misinformation and self-dealing is uniquely toxic, harming Ukraine’s war effort and undermining America’s national security, candidate Chris Christie told me.
The former New Jersey governor has just returned from Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top advisers in Kyiv. Christie’s campaign trail detour might seem politically ill-advised, considering that polls show GOP voters are increasingly critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine.
But he deserves credit for taking the time and risk to go there and assess the situation with his own eyes—something few Republican skeptics have been willing to do.
While Christie didn’t discuss Trump with Zelenskyy, the prospect of Trump’s return to office hangs over Ukraine like a sword of Damocles. Trump’s latest Ukraine rant included calling on all Republicans to withhold additional military aid until the U.S. government investigates the Biden family’s business dealings to Trump’s satisfaction.
Given Trump’s recent promises to pressure Zelenskyy into a negotiation and his historic willingness to take the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, it’s no wonder U.S. and European officials are worried that Putin sees no reason to make any Ukraine concessions before the 2024 election. Trump’s dangling of a softer approach is bolstering Putin’s confidence, according to Christie.
Christie pulled no punches criticizing the foreign policy acumen and views of several of his Ukraine-skeptic opponents. He called out flip-flopping by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who initially called the war a “territorial dispute” before being compelled to walk back his remarks. Christie also criticized entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has called Zelenskyy a “bully” and suggested that the Jewish president of Ukraine is somehow oppressing Jews there.
“I cannot understand what Governor DeSantis’ position is on Ukraine,” Christie said. “Vivek is Trump’s wingman. There’s no substance to what Vivek Ramaswamy is saying on this issue.”
To be fair, Ramaswamy and other Trump-like Republicans make one at least arguable point— that helping Ukraine is not a “vital” U.S. national security interest. Christie, along with former vice president Mike Pence, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and others, are trying to convince GOP voters it is. They argue, among other things, that resisting Russian aggression is crucial for deterring a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Some conservative voices maintain that dialing down U.S. support for Ukraine would free up resources needed to bolster Taiwan’s defense, but that idea is rejected by (among others) the Taiwanese themselves.
To be sure, Christie’s chances of winning the Republican primary, much less the presidency, are slim. But his foreign policy stance is still shared by most GOP leaders in Congress, despite Trump’s takeover of the party. They, like Christie, think Biden should be criticized for doing too little on Ukraine, not for doing too much.