Trump on Johnson’s Handling of Ukraine Vote: ‘You Can’t Be Too Tough’ with a Thin Majority

Former President Trump on Monday offered a defense of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) amid conservative criticism of Johnson’s decision to bring additional aid to Ukraine and other national security priorities to the Chamber plenary for voting over the weekend.

In his first comments since the national security funding package passed the House with bipartisan support on Saturday, Trump told conservative radio host Chris Stigall that Johnson was in a difficult position because of the GOP’s extremely narrow majority.

“Remember, the Parliament we’re talking about has, you know, a one-to-one majority. One vote,” Trump said, citing the increasingly smaller majority because of several resignations of legislators.

“And you can’t be too tough when — look, we all want to be tough and everything, and I have a lot of friends, and frankly, I have friends on both sides,” Trump continued. “You know, if you look at the vote, a lot of Republicans, a lot of good Republicans, voted for it. But Mike is there and he’s trying, and some people were disappointed, and a lot of people were very disappointed that nothing happened with the border. I will straighten the border.”

Debate over whether to move forward with a series of bills to provide billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as provide humanitarian aid to those in the Middle East, has divided House Republicans and sparked calls from some Trump allies in the House. for the removal of Johnson as speaker of the House.

Johnson ultimately defied his conservative critics, pushing to the floor a series of four bills that provided foreign assistance but separating those funds from a separate border security bill, which failed in Saturday’s vote. He framed the aid as a simple but crucial continuation of America’s responsibility to democratic allies facing their own threats.

The package, which more than 100 House Republicans voted against, included about $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific and a package of additional national security that presents a potential ban on the popular people. TikTok app. The bills must still be approved in the Senate before reaching President Biden’s desk.

Trump hosted Johnson at his Mar-a-Lago, Fla., residence earlier this month and offered his support for the House speaker, who is under fire from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch ally of the ex-president.

Greene filed a motion to vacate Johnson late last month, which Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) endorsed last week. She has not yet said when she might file the motion, however.