Biden Tries to Reassure Allies of Continued US Support for Ukraine after Congress Drops Aid Request

US President Joe Biden makes a statement about the stopgap government funding bill passed by the US House and Senate to avert a government shutdown at the White House in Washington, US, October 1, 2023. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden makes a statement about the stopgap government funding bill passed by the US House and Senate to avert a government shutdown at the White House in Washington, US, October 1, 2023. (Reuters)
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Biden Tries to Reassure Allies of Continued US Support for Ukraine after Congress Drops Aid Request

US President Joe Biden makes a statement about the stopgap government funding bill passed by the US House and Senate to avert a government shutdown at the White House in Washington, US, October 1, 2023. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden makes a statement about the stopgap government funding bill passed by the US House and Senate to avert a government shutdown at the White House in Washington, US, October 1, 2023. (Reuters)

President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday with US allies and partners to coordinate future support for Ukraine after Congress passed — and he signed — legislation that kept the US government funded but dropped his request for billions of dollars to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

The White House announced that Biden had convened the call but provided no details of the discussion.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda said afterward that Biden had assured the group of continued US support for Ukraine and of his strong conviction that Congress will not walk away.

“Everyone took the floor. The main subject was Ukraine, the situation in Ukraine," Duda said at a news conference in Kielce, Poland. “President Joe Biden began with telling us about the situation in the US and what is the real political situation around Ukraine. He assured us that there is backing for the continuing support for Ukraine, first of all for the military support. He said that he will get that backing in the Congress.”

Duda said Biden assured the leaders that support for Ukraine in the US Congress is much broader than media reports suggest. He said Biden called on the participants to continue their support for Ukraine and that everyone assured him that they would.

"All of us, leaders, we are determined to continue supporting Ukraine,” said Duda, whose country shares a border with Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on social media that it was a “Good call with #NATO leaders hosted by @POTUS,” using the acronym for president of the United States. “As Russia continues its brutal war, we are all committed to supporting #Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Stoltenberg pledged.

Others joining Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the call were the leaders of Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Britain, the European Commission and the European Council. France’s foreign minister also participated, the White House said. French President Emmanuel Macron was not available due to scheduling issues, according to a US administration official.

Duda said the leaders also discussed plans for rebuilding Ukraine.

"Everyone was saying that this is the next step that will be necessary and for which preparations should begin now,” he said.

Biden had sought in public comments on Sunday, hours after he signed a bill to fund US government operations through mid-November, to reassure allies of continued US financial support for Ukraine's effort to counter Russia's military aggression. But he warned that time was running out and urged Congress to negotiate a new aid package quickly.

“We cannot under any circumstances allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said at the White House after Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding bill late Saturday that stripped out assistance for Ukraine.

“We have time, not much time, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency,” Biden said, noting that funding in the bill will run out in mid-November.

“The vast majority of both parties — Democrats and Republicans, Senate and House — support helping Ukraine and the brutal aggression that is being thrust upon them by Russia,” Biden said. “Stop playing games, get this done.’’

But many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in Congress is growing as Republican resistance to the aid has gained momentum as the war continues.

While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has begun a process to potentially consider legislation providing additional Ukraine aid, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., faces a more difficult task in keeping the commitment he made over the objections of nearly half of his GOP majority.

McCarthy signaled over the weekend that he supports linking new Ukraine funding to security improvements at the US border with Mexico.

The latest actions in Congress signal a gradual shift in the unwavering support that the United States has so far pledged to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and is one of the clearest examples yet of the Republican Party’s movement toward a more isolationist stance.

The exclusion of money for Ukraine came little more than a week after lawmakers met in the Capitol with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He sought to assure them that his military was winning the war, but stressed that additional assistance would be crucial.

Voting in the House last week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. Nearly half of House Republicans voted to cut from a defense spending bill $300 million to train Ukrainian soldiers and buy weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.

The US has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of US military equipment that was sent to the front lines. In August, Biden called on Congress to provide for an additional $24 billion.



Donald Trump Jr. Is Helping His Father Pick the Most Controversial Cabinet of Modern Times

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Donald Trump Jr. Is Helping His Father Pick the Most Controversial Cabinet of Modern Times

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Donald Trump Jr. has emerged as the most influential Trump family member in the transition as the president-elect builds the most controversial cabinet in modern US history, according to a half dozen sources with knowledge of his role, elevating inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in his administration.

Trump, who fiercely prizes loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice, but which relative has his ear is known to vary.

This time, it is Don Jr., who has helped cabinet contenders sink or rise to the fore - from championing Senator JD Vance as Trump's running mate to blocking former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from joining the cabinet, according to the sources, who include donors, personal friends and political allies.

Don Jr. is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, although one of the sources said he will continue to host his politics-focused podcast and support candidates that espouse Trump's brand of politics.

He will provide advice to his father in the White House, the source added, although they cautioned that Don Jr. was unlikely to be involved in day-to-day deliberations.

Don Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In addition to ensuring candidates are loyal to his father, Don Jr. typically seeks out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and a reduction in military interventions and overseas aid, according to a handful of the sources and Don Jr.'s own comments on social media site X and in public.

Two of the candidates Don Jr. championed may face a rocky confirmation process in the Senate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump plans to nominate as the top US health official, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump plans to nominate as intelligence chief.

Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and stirred controversy when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

INFLUENTIAL - TO A POINT

Don Jr. was also instrumental in lobbying his father to pick his close friend Vance as Trump's running mate.

Vance was popular with Trump's base, but his anti-corporate rhetoric, opposition to Ukraine aid and past comments panning some Democratic women as "childless cat ladies" gave some donors and supporters pause.

Trump was ultimately happy with Vance, giving Don Jr. extra political capital as an adviser during the transition, one of the sources added.

Not all of Don Jr.'s picks have landed jobs.

He was keen on Ric Grenell, a personal friend and former ambassador to Germany, getting secretary of state, according to a separate source familiar with the matter. His father ended up picking Senator Marco Rubio, whose views are deemed by Trump's core supporters as too traditional and internationalist.

Two of the sources close to Don Jr. said he does not weigh in on all personnel decisions and is not working on the transition process or at Mar-a-Lago full time. He is also not expected to play a big role in vetting candidates for lower-level jobs, one of the sources close to him said.

"The reality this time is we actually know what we're doing," Don Jr. told Fox News earlier this month. "And it's about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal."

FOLLOWING IN HIS SISTER'S FOOTSTEPS

Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were prominent in his 2016 presidential campaign, the subsequent transition and throughout his first term.

This time, they are far less active, although Kushner, formerly Trump's senior adviser who focused on the Middle East, told Reuters that he is briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff on his new job as special envoy to the region.

"I have been working with Witkoff to get him up to speed on Trump's past efforts," Kushner said through a spokesperson.

A half-dozen sources close to Kushner said they expect him to be involved in Middle Eastern policy in an unofficial capacity.

Kushner, Ivanka and sibling Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization business, do not plan to join the new administration, according to their representatives as well as sources.

One source close to the transition said Trump does not appear to need his family for advice as much as in the past because of aides like Susie Wiles, who helped to run the most disciplined of his election campaigns to date.

Trump has named Wiles as his chief of staff, a powerful position in Washington.

"Stuff is really buttoned down," the source said of Trump's current team. "He may not need the family this time like he used to."