‘Devastating… for Years to Come’: House Republican Slams Trump for ‘Playing Into the Hands’ of Russia’s Putin

CNN’s Pamela Brown spoke to Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) on Monday and asked the House Republican to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s strategy to end the war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Happening now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to arrive in Saudi Arabia to discuss a peaceful end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Rubio will meet with top Ukrainian officials to gauge Kyiv’s willingness to engage in peace talks. And joining us now is Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska. He sits on the Armed Services Committee,” began Brown, adding:

Congressman, thanks for coming on and sharing your time with us. So I want to dive right into it. Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky will also be in Saudi Arabia but is not expected to attend these talks. Do you believe the white House is sidelining Zelensky in this peace process?

“That’s a terrible mistake not to have the Ukrainian leader in the talks. We’ve seen a history of this. I remember when the Trump administration was negotiating with the Taliban, without the Afghan government, that really weakened the Afghan government thereafter,” Bacon replied, adding:

And we could go all the way back to 1938, when Neville Chamberlain negotiated with Adolf Hitler. They carved up the Czechoslovakia territory and basically demanded the Czechoslovakian leader give them in to their demands — Hitler’s and Chamberlain’s, the leader of Great Britain at the time. And then a year later, they took the German. He took the rest of Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland.

Ukraine is our ally. They want to be part of the West. Russia is our adversary. And it’s time that this administration gets this in their brain. They’re treating [Vladimir] Putin with velvet gloves and they’re being harsh to our allies. Now, I got to tell you, I’m hearing from all over the world, but particularly lots of Republicans in Omaha who do not like what they see.

“So you believe it sounds like that, that the Trump administration is just been too conciliatory towards Russia right now and sort of walking away from its legacy of being the leader of the free world?” pressed Brown.

“We are the leader of the free world. But right now many countries are questioning, are we still the leader of the free world? We may be the most powerful country in the world. We were the leader of the free world, but it appears to many leaders and people all over to include Republicans in Nebraska that this administration is walking away from that legacy that was built by Ike Eisenhower and all these presidents, and really a capstone of Ronald Reagan peace through strength and building these close alliances,’ replied Bacon, a retired brigadier general in the Air Force. He added:

And we are undermining that legacy right now. I’m not interested in a foreign policy that is totally built on realism or transactionalism, where it’s just, what do we have in it for us? I believe in having a foreign policy that’s a mix of realism, protecting our country, and idealism.

Where we’re the leaders, standing for freedom, free markets, rule of law. And we got to be clear eyed, but also have moral clarity. Putin invaded Ukraine. He’s murdered all of his political opponents. He tried to kill a previous Ukrainian prime minister. He’s bombing cities. He’s ramped up the bombing of cities since. President Trump has been harsh towards President Zelensky.

We got to see this where we’re playing into the hands of Putin. And I think it’s devastating for, you know, our force, our national security, in our foreign affairs for the years to come. So I’m very concerned.

“You know, Trump for his part, he touts that he’s a deal maker. He is predicting very big things in these Saudi talks this week. We know the secretary, Marco Rubio, is leaving there soon. Do you share that optimism at all?” Brown asked.

“Well, I do want peace. We want a fair peace. We want a just peace. But how do you have a just peace if you don’t have Zelensky in the meetings? I just don’t think it’s right. I think we have a long history of seeing how you cut one party out and show favoritism to one side or the other and don’t work, but why are we showing favoritism to the thug, to the dictator, to the murderer? It doesn’t make sense to me,” Bacon replied before Brown moved on to discuss Trump’s tariffs.

Watch the clip above via CNN.