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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, anyone here remember how Donald Trump promised to end Russia's war on Ukraine in 1 day if he was elected? That is right: 1 day. Well, we are 73 days into his term, with Russia still raining death and destruction upon the people of Ukraine. Instead of ending the war, Donald Trump has alienated and bullied our allies around the world--our allies.
He insulted and blackmailed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who has led Ukrainians fighting bravely for more than 3 years, and 46,000 Ukrainians have died in defense of their country. He has decimated low- cost soft power by gutting USAID and Voice of America, giving away our influence and leadership to China and Russia--a move the head of Russian state TV called--get this quote--``an awesome decision by Trump! We couldn't shut them down, unfortunately, but America did so itself.''
By turning our backs on the rest of the world, Donald Trump is undermining the promise of America as a beacon of democracy, freedom, and human rights. All the while, Russian President Putin is laughing at us, watching with glee as America destroys its own leadership and credibility--something he could only have dreamed of in his former KGB days.
If you don't believe me, read New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. His recent column's title tells the story: ``I Don't Believe a Single Word Trump and Putin Say About Ukraine.''
Washington Post columnist Max Boot wrote ``Putin is playing Trump and Witkoff like a Stradivarius,'' asking dismayingly what the rest of us are pondering as well: ``Does Trump seriously believe Putin is negotiating in good faith to end the war in Ukraine?''
Or listen to the senior Republican Senator from Kentucky. Here is what he said:
Unless we change course, the outcome we're heading for today is one we can least afford: a headline that reads ``Russia wins, America loses''. . . . An illusory peace that shreds America's credibility, leaves Ukraine under threat, weakens our alliances, and emboldens our enemies.
I agree.
Consider the last few months of negotiations between Trump and Putin that led almost nowhere and emboldened Russia. The supposed cease-fire was supposed to narrowly limit Russian attacks, and here we have them bombing hospitals.
A supposed deal to stop fighting in the Black Sea was a giveaway to the Russians that undermined the Ukrainians.
Or consider President Trump's special peace envoy Steve Witkoff, a real estate tycoon from New York who is in competition with Neville Chamberlain for the world's most naive appeaser. Witkoff recently told another Putin apologist, Tucker Carlson, that he liked Putin and didn't regard him as a bad guy.
The same Witkoff groveled over Putin's obviously manipulative portrait gift to Trump, and he said those forced at gunpoint in occupied eastern Ukraine to vote in a sham referendum actually really wanted to be part of Russia. He is buying the Kremlin talking points and the long list in total.
But as the President negotiates away Ukraine's freedom and America's credibility, Congress has an obligation and a constitutional responsibility to act. So I am glad this week that dozens of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle introduced legislation to make it clear to Russia that broad sanctions will be imposed if Russia does not negotiate in good faith and end this war soon. We owe Ukraine, and we certainly owe our own country nothing less.
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