Yea fuck them... Maggots...

Top Republicans say they want Ukraine deal 'back on track'

Johnson and Thune both express optimism a mineral-rights deal could be salvaged after Friday's testy White House meeting.

Jordain Carney

Congressional Republicans are signaling they want President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to patch things up after a testy Oval Office meeting cast significant doubt about the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship.

“I just hope that they can get things back on track and that everybody will redouble their efforts,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, asked about the Friday White House meeting where Zelenskyy sparred verbally with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

“This is a historic opportunity, a potentially historic agreement, and obviously last week was a missed opportunity. But I think if people are operating in good faith, I think we could get things back on the rails,” he added.

The Friday meeting went awry after Trump and Vance accused Zelenskyy of failing to express sufficient gratitude for U.S. efforts to support Ukraine and overplaying what they said was a weak diplomatic hand. The White House subsequently canceled a planned news conference, and the two leaders didn’t sign a framework for a deal to share future profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

Several MAGA-aligned lawmakers quickly aligned themselves with Trump after the meeting — with some even calling for the United States to leave NATO. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has been a supporter of Ukraine aid, suggested that Zelenskyy should either change his tune and apologize or potentially resign.

Speaker Mike Johnson defended Trump on Monday but added to reporters, “I encourage — as I did over the weekend — President Zelenskyy to come back to the table and accept the deal that was proposed because that is the solution to get us out of this mess.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said that he had a one-on-one conversation with Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, and “we are 100 [percent] getting this train back on the tracks.”

“This mineral deal will be signed in short order, which will lead to a strong long-term economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, and which will ultimately and naturally lead to security assistance,” Fitzpatrick wrote in a lengthy statement on X.

“Europe will be required to step up and do its part, and there will be mandates for them to do just that. Stay tuned for further details,” he added.