Growing Disagreement Among Conservative Republicans With Trump's Russia, Ukraine Position – Expert

Adrian Karatnycky, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

Commenting on Trump's controversial statements in which he labeled President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” — which the US president later retracted — the expert stressed that such accusations had sparked a heated debate among certain Republicans in Congress, conservative media outlets and analysts. According to him, this became the basis for a growing divergence with Trump's approach to issues related to Russia and Ukraine.

Karatnycky suggested that this disconnect would likely widen over time, “especially if certain unpopular budget cuts and domestic policy decisions continue to backfire on the American public.” He cited Elon Musk’s political activism, cuts to federal funding, and cuts to key government functions as examples.

“The more Trump's approval ratings fall, the more Republicans — along with Democrats — will be inclined to criticize certain aspects of his administration, especially in the area of foreign policy and security,” the expert noted.

Read also: Trump on calling Zelensky a 'dictator': 'I can't believe I said that'

He added that many Republicans are concerned not only about Trump's stance on Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also about his intention to significantly cut defense spending because they feel threatened by both Russia and China.

As reported by Ukrinform, US President Donald Trump recently distanced himself from his previous statements in which he called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections.”