Public comments from President Trump blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of his country are unnerving Senate Republicans, who have largely sought to avoid conflicts with the White House.
Trump’s escalating war of words with the Ukrainian leader comes as hawks in both parties plead with the president not to give Moscow a free pass in talks to end the bitter three-year conflict.
“I’m concerned with anything that would ultimately allow there to be a moral equivalency between Zelensky and Putin,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who visited Ukraine alongside a pair of Senate Democrats over the weekend and toured parts of suburban Kyiv that have been ravaged by fighting.
He also pushed back on Trump’s criticism of Zelensky on Wednesday, when he took to Truth Social and called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” who was doing a “terrible job.”
“Zelensky is frustrated, but he’s also been the right head of state for the time. He’s kept a nation together focused on Russian occupiers, and I think we should give them a fair amount of credit for that work,” Tillis said.
Trump and Zelensky have a tumultuous relationship dating back to Trump’s first term, when a phone call between the two led to Trump’s first impeachment.
A testy back-and-forth has quickly escalated after Ukraine was left out of talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, drawing a rebuke from Zelensky.
Trump responded Tuesday with unfounded allegations that Zelensky “started” the war, with the Ukrainian leader responding Wednesday that the U.S. president was living in a “web of disinformation.” Trump sent his angry Truth Social post hours later.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said later in the day she had “tremendous admiration” for Zelensky, who has “courageously led his country” during the war.
“We must remember that the instigator of this war was President Putin, who launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” she added.
The jabs between Trump and Zelensky have put Senate Republicans in a difficult position, given their sympathy for the plight of Kyiv and record of support for aid to the war-torn country. So far, criticism has been qualified, with calls to give Trump space to seek a breakthrough in the grinding war.
“The president grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought, and that has endeared him to many Americans. But when you’re president, sometimes it causes problems. It’s not going to change,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. “I’m not criticizing him. He’s the president, I’m not.”
“I think the president and Ukraine want the same thing — that is to get a settlement that lifts up Ukraine, lifts up the West and diminishes [Putin],” Kennedy continued. “I disagree with the White House: I don’t think Ukraine started the war, I think Putin did, and I’ve made my feelings well known. I think he’s a gangster with a black heart. I think he’s got Stalin’s taste for blood. I think he makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Teresa. I think he’s an evil, evil man — and I want to beat him.”
Trump has only been in office for a month but has quickly upended what was a multiyear push by the Senate to boost Ukraine amid ongoing fighting with Moscow. Congress, with wide support from Senate Republicans, greenlighted multiple tranches of Ukraine aide under former President Biden, to the tune of nearly $175 billion since the start of the war.
Senate Republicans are also keenly aware that Trump has the power to make or break their ambitious legislative agenda, sits near the highest favorability mark of his four-plus years as president and wields the implicit threat of an Elon Musk-backed primary challenge. Congress too has seen a jump in support from Republican voters.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Wednesday avoided directly addressing Trump’s comments calling Zelensky a “dictator,” which echoed Russian disinformation.
“What I’m in support of is a peaceful outcome and result in Ukraine, and I think right now, the administration, the president and his team are working to achieve that. Right now, you’ve got to give them some space, honestly,” Thune said, adding that Trump “speaks for himself” when pressed about the “dictator” claim.
“This war has ground on for three years. There’s been a lot of cost, a lot of death, a lot of injury associated with it,” Thune continued. “I think it’s in everybody’s best interest … if they can bring about a peaceful conclusion to the war.”
Republicans behind closed doors were also trying to repair the rupture between the two leaders.
The Ukrainian leader on Wednesday wrote on the social platform X that he spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally and Ukraine hawk, hailing him for being “constructive” and “doing a lot to help bring peace closer.”
Graham has been a leading champion of a potential deal between Trump and Zelensky centered around Ukraine’s mineral wealth, which could help repay ongoing military loans from the U.S. Zelensky has appeared cool to the initial terms.
Elections cannot happen in Ukraine, as the country remains under martial law. Some 20 percent of the nation remains under Russian control, and millions of Ukrainians have fled the country.
Trump also claimed in his blistering attack that Zelensky is only supported by 4 percent of the country. That figure contrasts with Ukrainian surveys showing Zelensky hovering around 50 percent support, though far below the overwhelming backing he enjoyed earlier on in the war.
Tillis said Putin ultimately needs to be a “loser” for the sake of U.S. security, but added he was willing to give Trump room to operate.
“The president has used some fairly successful, aggressive negotiating tactics in the past, so I’ll give him latitude for now,” Tillis continued. “But at the end of the day, Putin needs to be a loser and the Ukrainian people need to be the winners. Let’s get past the leadership personalities and talk about what’s most important: a free Ukraine, not for its own sake, but for the sake of national security, the United States, European security.”
Vice President Vance’s visit to a Senate GOP luncheon Wednesday illustrated how much the situation around Ukraine has shifted.
Vance huddled with members in part to discuss the path forward on the chamber’s budget resolution, only hours after Trump shot down their plans to execute his agenda via two packages, but Ukraine did come up as part of his remarks.
According to multiple members, Vance reiterated what he said in multiple interviews earlier in the day: criticizing Zelensky for “bad mouthing” Trump, arguing it was not a constructive move for Kyiv.
“The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media … everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance told the Daily Mail.
There was not, however, open discussion with members during the luncheon, particularly with those who view Trump’s outburst as a setback.
“Any sort of peace talks that might get a fair result would definitely need to have the Ukrainians at the table and make sure that European interests are considered and carefully weighed,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), a leading Ukraine proponent, adding that the Russian leader should not be trusted in these talks.
“Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life — if not executed,” he added.
For the time being, members are intent on letting the situation play out with the hopes that cooler heads prevail.
“It’s sort of like the banter before the heavyweight fight when they come in to get their weights, step on the scales, have a little presser, show off their muscles,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “[Trump’s] always had a rhetorical relationship, favorable relationship with the bigger countries [and] the adversaries, but he’s also never caved to any of them, including Iran, China.
“I don’t worry about it.”
