An Oval Office confrontation where President Donald Trump shouted at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and threw him out of the White House on Friday has left U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski “sick to my stomach” about concerns Trump is openly “walking away from our allies,” she stated in a social media post Saturday.
“This week started with administration officials refusing to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine,” she wrote. “It ends with a tense, shocking conversation in the Oval Office and whispers from the White House that they may try to end all U.S. support for Ukraine. I know foreign policy is not for the faint of heart, but right now, I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world.”
The televised Oval Office meeting involving Trump, Zelensky and U.S. Vice President JD Vance was “a fiery public confrontation unlike any seen between an American president and foreign leader in modern times,” according to The New York Times. “Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in Ukraine’s war with Russia, and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictated.”
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social site after the meeting, declared Zelenskyy “is not ready for Peace.”
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office,” Trump wrote. “He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
The Washington Post reported shortly after the meeting the Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine.
The confrontation, widely cited as marking a radical shift in the U.S. allegiances, prompted European and other leaders to say America no longer can be considered a reliable ally. Republican politicians in the U.S. have largely supported the actions by Trump and Vance during the meeting, while some of those dissenting have issued statements such as it being “a bad day for America’s foreign policy” without specifically mentioning Trump.
Alaska’s other Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, stated through a spokesperson on Saturday “the meeting with President Zelensky was a missed opportunity for the people of Ukraine.”
After the meeting, President Trump left the door open to continue to work with Zelensky on a peace agreement,” Sullivan said. “I am hopeful that will happen.”
Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, declined through a spokesperson Saturday to comment about the White House confrontation.
Begich, during an appearance before the Alaska Legislature on Feb. 20, said “I want to see peace in Ukraine, and I think that’s what the people of Ukraine deserve.” However, he declined to directly answer a question about Trump’s false statements that blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia and demands Ukraine hand over a vast portion of its mineral wealth in exchange for continued U.S. support.
The congressman did, however, appear to disagree with Trump’s characterization by stating “we have dramatically outspent all of Europe combined in supporting Ukraine’s effort at defending itself from Russian aggression, and so I think there has to be a limit to how much the U.S. taxpayer is asked to provide.”
Sullivan on Feb. 20 issued a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin “started this war by invading Ukraine” that did not directly criticize Trump’s characterization.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
