WASHINGTON: It is a full nine months until the presidential election but Donald Trump is already wielding extraordinary influence as he seeks to bend US foreign policy to his ambitions of a return to the White House.
The Republican has been a private citizen since leaving office in 2021 but is running for reelection and urging his party to reject a bill tying the toughest border security measures in a generation to $60 billion in Ukraine aid.
“Don’t be STUPID!!! We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form!” Trump, who looks almost certain to be facing President Joe Biden again in November, posted on social media.
Biden and Trump offer starkly divergent approaches to Ukraine, with the Democrat clear that helping the pro-Western ally repel Russia is vital to ensure a safer world while his predecessor pushes an isolationist, “America First” policy.
At home, Biden has pressed for a humane immigration policy but Republicans point to statistics showing migrant apprehensions reaching a record high of 302,000 in December, a surge Trump has been wielding as a major issue in the campaign.
The demand that military aid for Ukraine be tied to immigration reform came from Republicans in the first place, with Trump keen to equate the crisis at the border with chaos abroad that he repeatedly claims he would have averted.
On Sunday, senators unveiled a bipartisan $118 billion package of immigration restrictions that Biden has committed to signing into law. It is tied to a foreign aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
The deal provides $20 billion in new border funding and would be a major win for immigration hawks, as it is full of concessions that Democrats would normally have opposed.
“We don’t have enough agents. We don’t have enough folks. We don’t have enough judges. You don’t have enough folks here. We need help. Why won’t they give me the help?” a frustrated Biden said Monday when asked about the bill’s prospects.
But Trump has an iron grip on Republicans leading the House of Representatives, and has called repeatedly for the party to kill the legislation and deny Biden and his Democrats a political victory ahead of November’s election.
“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,” Trump said Monday on his Truth Social website.
Some House Republicans in districts won by Biden have voiced concerns about walking away from the deal — especially when the party plans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week over the border crisis.
But Trump’s overwhelming victories in the early nominating contests in the Republican presidential primary have solidified support around his candidacy, with more than 150 members of Congress now endorsing him.
The critical test for the bill will be its first procedural vote, expected on Wednesday, which will require support from 60 senators in a 100-member chamber that is almost evenly divided between the two parties.
Even if it gets over that hurdle, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who talks to Trump regularly, said the deal would be “dead on arrival” if it reaches the Republican-controlled lower chamber.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last week that Ukraine’s gains over two years of fighting were all in doubt without US approval of the $60 billion.
While Trump has focused his criticism on the domestic aspects of the bill, critics see his opposition as another example of the controversial billionaire placing his electoral ambitions above national security when it comes to Ukraine.
Trump was impeached in 2019 over his attempts to strongarm Kyiv into smearing Biden as the Republican withheld $400 million in vital military aid that had already been approved by Congress for the embattled ally.
The influential Eurasia Group think tank said in its forecast of security risks for 2024 that a Trump victory in November would “call into question the US commitment to NATO and likely spell the end of US support for Ukraine.”
“Both would send shockwaves through Europe’s fragile security landscape and trigger existential fears among Europeans,” it said, “especially on NATO’s eastern flank.”
![]()
Flexing clout, Trump pressures Republicans to kill Ukraine aid deal
Short Url
https://arab.news/wu9es
Flexing clout, Trump pressures Republicans to kill Ukraine aid deal
Thousands in Kosovo march against war crimes trials on 18th anniversary of independence declaration
- Protesters, many wrapped in red and black Albanian flags, braved cold and snowy weather in the capital, Pristina, to voice their opposition to the proceedings in The Hague
- PM Albin Kurti added that ‘the KLA-led war was pure, liberation (struggle) and an anti-colonial war ... a just struggle of an occupied and oppressed people under apartheid’
PRISTINA, Kosovo: An air of defiance marked Kosovo’s independence celebrations on Tuesday as thousands of people joined a march in support of former fighters who are facing trial at a Netherlands-based court for alleged war crimes during a 1998-1999 separatist war from Serbia.
Protesters, many wrapped in red and black Albanian flags, braved cold and snowy weather in the capital, Pristina, to voice their opposition to the proceedings in The Hague against former president and rebel leader Hashim Thaci and three others accused of atrocities during and after the conflict that killed some 13,000 people.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kosovo’s security forces paraded in Pristina as part of the independence ceremonies, and Parliament held a special session.
The war started in 1998 when the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army launched its struggle for independence and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. The war ended after NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999, eventually forcing it to pull out its troops from the territory.
Serbia still does not recognize the 2008 declaration of independence of Kosovo and this has been a source of persistent tension in the volatile Balkan region. As both Kosovo and Serbia seek European Union membership, they have been told they must normalize ties before joining.
Prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague — which formally is part of Kosovo’s judicial system although seated abroad — have asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the other defendants. Thaci also faces a separate trial on charges of intimidating witnesses that will begin later this month.
Officials and protesters in Kosovo have criticized the proceedings as political and designed to strike a false balance with Serbia whose political and military leaders previously had been tried and convicted of war crimes in Kosovo by a separate UN court.
Protesters at Tuesday’s march held banners reading “History cannot be rewritten” and “Freedom for the liberators.” They arranged metal fences around a landmark independence monument and placed a sign reading ”Kosovo in Prison” on top of it.
President Vjosa Osmani said in a statement that “truth cannot be changed by attempts to rewrite history or to tarnish and devalue the struggle of Kosovo’s people for freedom.”
Prime Minister Albin Kurti added that “the KLA-led war was pure, liberation (struggle) and an anti-colonial war ... a just struggle of an occupied and oppressed people under apartheid.”
In Belgrade, a Serbian government liaison office for Kosovo described the independence declaration 18 years ago as a “flagrant violation of international law.” The statement alleged “systematic terror” and persecution against minority Serbs in Kosovo.
The United States and most EU countries are among more than 100 nations that have recognized Kosovo’s independence while Russia and China have backed Serbia’s claim on the territory.
Thaci resigned from office in 2020 to defend himself against the 10 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, following allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven’t been included in indictments issued by the court.
Protesters, many wrapped in red and black Albanian flags, braved cold and snowy weather in the capital, Pristina, to voice their opposition to the proceedings in The Hague against former president and rebel leader Hashim Thaci and three others accused of atrocities during and after the conflict that killed some 13,000 people.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kosovo’s security forces paraded in Pristina as part of the independence ceremonies, and Parliament held a special session.
The war started in 1998 when the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army launched its struggle for independence and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. The war ended after NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999, eventually forcing it to pull out its troops from the territory.
Serbia still does not recognize the 2008 declaration of independence of Kosovo and this has been a source of persistent tension in the volatile Balkan region. As both Kosovo and Serbia seek European Union membership, they have been told they must normalize ties before joining.
Prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague — which formally is part of Kosovo’s judicial system although seated abroad — have asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the other defendants. Thaci also faces a separate trial on charges of intimidating witnesses that will begin later this month.
Officials and protesters in Kosovo have criticized the proceedings as political and designed to strike a false balance with Serbia whose political and military leaders previously had been tried and convicted of war crimes in Kosovo by a separate UN court.
Protesters at Tuesday’s march held banners reading “History cannot be rewritten” and “Freedom for the liberators.” They arranged metal fences around a landmark independence monument and placed a sign reading ”Kosovo in Prison” on top of it.
President Vjosa Osmani said in a statement that “truth cannot be changed by attempts to rewrite history or to tarnish and devalue the struggle of Kosovo’s people for freedom.”
Prime Minister Albin Kurti added that “the KLA-led war was pure, liberation (struggle) and an anti-colonial war ... a just struggle of an occupied and oppressed people under apartheid.”
In Belgrade, a Serbian government liaison office for Kosovo described the independence declaration 18 years ago as a “flagrant violation of international law.” The statement alleged “systematic terror” and persecution against minority Serbs in Kosovo.
The United States and most EU countries are among more than 100 nations that have recognized Kosovo’s independence while Russia and China have backed Serbia’s claim on the territory.
Thaci resigned from office in 2020 to defend himself against the 10 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, following allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven’t been included in indictments issued by the court.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.