Trump's souring on Putin raises questions about MAGA base

Yahoo

28-05-2025

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President Trump's souring on Russian President Vladimir Putin — saying he has 'gone absolutely CRAZY' and is 'playing with fire' — is raising questions about whether Trump's Ukraine-skeptical MAGA base will shift along with him.
The bitter tension in the GOP over how the U.S. should respond to Russia's war against Ukraine has been a defining dynamic of the Trump era, and those with anti-interventionist sensibilities have long thought Trump's instincts would lead him to pull back.
But now that peace talks Trump has tried to broker between Moscow and Kyiv have faltered — with Trump most recently decrying Putin's strikes on Ukraine over the weekend — those hoping for a more aggressive stance toward Russia are cheering what they see as an apparent shift.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is signaling he's ready to go with a bill imposing harsh sanctions on Russia that has more than 80 co-sponsors. Given Moscow's reticence over peace talks, momentum seems to be growing for taking a more aggressive posture backing sanctions.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board called for a Senate GOP revolt on sanctions, but that might not even be necessary: Trump said Sunday he would 'absolutely' consider the move.
That shift marks a 'new peak of disappointment' for retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor — a favorite analyst of Tucker Carlson who had a brief stint as a Pentagon adviser in the first Trump administration. Macgregor, a staunch anti-interventionist, advocates for dropping Russian sanctions completely rather than imposing more, and argues the U.S. national strategic interests do not conflict with Russia's.
'I think people are beginning to wonder what's really going on because of the contradictions of his statements,' Macgregor told me in an interview, referring to Trump. He added: 'It looks like President Trump has done a 180-degree turn. He's moved from a position that was viewed as reasonable with potential goodness for everyone concerned, to a position that is indistinguishable from Lindsey Graham.'
But the biggest Ukraine critics on Capitol Hill aren't expressing that same type of disappointment with Trump as they respond to his frustration with Putin. Trump, after all, kept up with his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even as he criticized Putin, saying the Ukrainian leader 'is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does' and that 'everything out of his mouth causes problems.'
Asked about Trump's description of Putin as 'crazy' and the prospect of more sanctions on Russia, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — one of Zelensky's most vocal critics in Congress — echoed Trump's 'both sides' message, referencing Russia's assertions that Ukrainian drones targeted Putin's helicopter.
'Ukraine just launched dozens of drones at Putin's helicopter, trying to assassinate him, and Russia continues to attack Ukraine. Both sides are at war with one another, and I personally think that is crazy,' Greene told me in a statement. 'With President Trump, both countries could be pursuing a peace deal that would lead to historic trade deals. That would be overwhelmingly incredible for the people of their countries. But instead, they are both crazy and pursue war. Shame on both of these countries and shame on any politician that wants to continue to engage America in more meddling actions in more foreign wars.'
Greene expressed her desire for U.S. disengagement: 'I along with most Americans want nothing to do with either of these countries while they are at war with one another. And I'll extend that to any country that wants to engage in war with others. The people of the world want peace and prosperity and that's what I support.'
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), the Ukrainian-born congresswoman who has also been critical of Zelensky, gave Trump some backup in a statement responding to my question about Trump's Putin statements: 'President Trump inherited a very difficult and extremely mismanaged situation, but I would not be testing his and the United States limits if I would be Putin.'
And Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), another big 'America First' congressman, told me in a statement that he's trusting the plan: 'In his first term, President Trump proved that he is a president of peace. He and his team are working around the clock to bring an end to senseless violence around the world. With Putin's and Zelensky's refusal to negotiate, I trust that our President will do what's necessary to protect America's interests first.'
Some Trump allies are more openly grappling with where they go from here, given the president hasn't been able to secure a peace deal yet, as conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said on his radio show Tuesday.
'The big fear here is, how can you broker peace if one of the sides do not want peace?' Kirk said. 'And if Russia really does not want to have peace, and they're willing to keep on throwing hundreds of thousands of their own young men as just a meat grinder, then the question is what do we actually do, and reconciling that with what the question of, what is the domestic appetite in America?'
, a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm , House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me what's on your radar: [e-mail]. Follow me on X: @emilybrooksnews.
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Anti-abortion activists are mounting a major push for Senate Republicans to keep a provision to 'defund' Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.'
A group of 27 prominent anti-abortion activists, led by Live Action's Lila Rose, wrote to Senate GOP leaders after the House passed the bill last week, saying the provision 'must be kept and passed.'
Students for Life Action will release a list of 12 Republican senators it is targeting in a push to keep the provision, the Washington Examiner reported. And Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, wrote in a RealClearPolicy op-ed: 'Have courage, Senate Republicans.'
Katie Daniel, SBA Pro-Life America's director of legal affairs and policy council, told me there has been enthusiasm particularly from Republican first-termers on the measure to defund Planned Parenthood.
While federal law already prohibits federal funds from directly being used on abortion services, the bill would expand that to prohibit funds from flowing to any services provided by family planning centers that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.
The provision, if it stays, would mark one of the biggest wins for the anti-abortion movement on the federal level since the Dobbs decision — one that conservative lawmakers have sought for nearly two decades, with then-Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) first spearheading the push to 'defund' Planned Parenthood stretching back to 2007. (Planned Parenthood Action Fund says it is a 'targeted attack that puts nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers at risk of closure.')
Asked last week whether Trump is committed to keeping the provision, with Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan mentioning Planned Parenthood's distribution of hormones to transgender individuals, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: 'The president has maintained a very clear commitment to ensuring that this administration and the American peoples' tax dollars are not funding the chemical castration and mutilation of children.'
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer recommend routine COVID-19 shots for healthy children and pregnant women.
That marks a major milestone for the 'Make America Healthy Again' (MAHA) movement — and one that is largely being greeted with open arms by Republicans.
'I voted for this! MAHA = MAGA,' Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) commented.
The change comes on the heels of a White House MAHA report that blamed ultra-processed foods, chemical exposure, use of prescription drugs and lack of exercise for chronic disease in children. ()
While the move is somewhat expected given Kennedy's much-documented vaccine skepticism, it's also notable given that one of the signature achievements of Trump's first term was Operation Warp Speed, which sought accelerated development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Thursday, May 29: The Cato Institute hosts a half-day conference on the state of parental rights, with speakers including Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
Thursday, May 29: Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts will debate New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes on whether America is in a golden age, for a in Toronto, starting at 7 p.m. EDT.
FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR DAN BONGINO is now promising he and FBI Director Kash Patel 'will be releasing more information which will further clarify answers' from a recent interview on Fox News's 'Sunday Morning Futures.' In the interview with host Maria Bartiromo, Bongino and Patel asserted that convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein did, in fact, die by suicide — enraging conspiracy theorists who demanded more information. Assuming Bongino is talking about more Epstein info, I'll be keeping an eye out to see if release of Epstein-related information goes better for the FBI duo than it did for Attorney General Pam Bondi.
POPULIST WINNERS AND LOSERS ON MEGABILL: Politico's Megan Messerly explored whether the new populists on the right won with the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' as passed by the House. The verdict: 'For all the nods the GOP has made to its new populist base, its biggest policy swing remains weighted toward helping higher earners and businesses pay fewer taxes' — though it does have some items like an increase to the child tax credit and $1,000 Trump savings accounts for new babies.
TRUMP PARDON FAIRY: The Trump administration announced a wave of eyebrow-raising clemency grants and pardons Tuesday: For Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery; Paul Walczak, who was convicted on tax crimes and whose mother attended a major fundraiser for Trump; and for Todd and Julie Chrisley, the reality TV stars convicted for bank fraud and tax evasion.
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