Trump Campaign Changed GOP Platform On Ukraine

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Trump Campaign Changed GOP Platform On Ukraine
Trump Campaign Changed GOP Platform On Ukraine

The Trump campaign went out of its way to dramatically alter the Republican Party’s official position on Ukraine—against the wishes of GOP hawks and despite senior Trump aide Paul Manafort’s insistence that they weren’t involved.

Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led intervention. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, worked as a lobbyist for the Russian-backed former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych for more than a decade.

Still, Republican delegates at last week’s national security committee platform meeting in Cleveland were surprised when the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events to make sure that the GOP would not pledge to give Ukraine the weapons it has been asking for from the United States.

Inside the meeting, Diana Denman, a platform committee member from Texas who was a Ted Cruz supporter, proposed a platform amendment that would call for maintaining or increasing sanctions against Russia, increasing aid for Ukraine and “providing lethal defensive weapons” to the Ukrainian military.

“Today, the post-Cold War ideal of a ‘Europe whole and free’ is being severely tested by Russia’s ongoing military aggression in Ukraine,” the amendment read. “The Ukrainian people deserve our admiration and support in their struggle.”

Trump staffers in the room, who are not delegates but are there to oversee the process, intervened. By working with pro-Trump delegates, they were able to get the issue tabled while they devised a method to roll back the language.

On the sideline, Denman tried to persuade the Trump staffers not to change the language, but failed. “I was troubled when they put aside my amendment and then watered it down,” Denman told me. “I said, ‘What is your problem with a country that wants to remain free?’ It seems like a simple thing.”

Finally, Trump staffers wrote an amendment to Denman’s amendment that stripped out the platform’s call for “providing lethal defensive weapons” and replaced it with softer language calling for “appropriate assistance.”

That amendment was voted on and passed. When the Republican Party releases its platform Monday, the official Republican party position on arms for Ukraine will be at odds with almost all the party’s national security leaders.

Bertha R. Massie

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13 COMMENTS

  1. This is the kind of Heroic Peace Keeping that Trump will put forth repeatedly, but when the ” bell rings”, look out. Crimea, Ukraine, Istanbuls neighboor is not the place to start a war on the very shores of the Black Sea and its Mekong ( the Bosporus). 80% of the Peninsula is Ethnic and Ancient Russian territory…, it’s their route to the Mediterranean. It always has been. This is likely Paul Ryans starting place for World War 3. Let me guess…, Hitlery CLITon is sending planeloads of money, but not all of “it”. Good call President TRUMP.

  2. You bet he changed it ! Trump is NOT going insert puppets to hand nations over to the NWO Fascist Cabal.

    It’s up to The People… France sent a delegation to Crimea to review what really happened there. Last week they concluded The People of Crimea consider themselves Russian… they voted to become Russian again… and if Putin had ignored them, the region would be a war zone.

  3. It is great to be able to criticize someone without having all the facts. I quite frankly do not know what Trump’s “appropriate response” would be, however, we all know from historical facts what Hillary Clinton’s response may be, look at her handling of Benghazi. I would certainly not want to be in harms way with her as Commander and Chief. We are once again left with a choice between the lesser of two evils, so we need to not get caught up in the political rhetoric.

    • Not sure of your definition of “the Wests'” But the jury is still out on whether Russia is helping Syria fight ISIS or Putin is just expanding his presence and establishing footholds deeper into the Middle East. In any event I would suggest not using the headlines from such media outlets as the Washington Post or New York Times as a good source for a clear understanding of the truth. I do know that Russia has armor and troops deployed extensively along the Russia/Ukrainian border. I don’t think that Putin will let anything that happens in a US presidential campaign sidetrack his efforts in Syria.

  4. TRUMPPY THE ORANGE HAIRED PUTIN’S PUPPET IS NOW WITH HIS RUSSIAN WIFE PLANNING TO OVERTHROW OUR CONSTITUTION THE DEMOCRATIC WAY OF LIFE AND SUBVERT IT INTO A RUSSIAN MOB RULING WIHTEHOUSE WAKE UP PEOPLE. LIKE RUSSIA THEY WILL PUT HATRED AND BULLING IN THE FRONT OF THE AGENDA AND TRY TO STOMP OUT ALL THOSE WHO OPPOSE THEM.

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