Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), a moderate Republican, suggested in a Sunday interview that first lady Melania Trump deserves some credit for President Trump’s apparent pivot against Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“Well, I’m glad that the president has pivoted on Ukraine,” Bacon said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
“I think we owe Melania some thanks here. Even the president said that his wife reminds him every day that Russia is bombing Ukrainian cities every night,” he continued.
The president announced on Monday a deal with NATO to provide weapons to Ukraine, and he also warned Russia that he is prepared to levy 100 percent secondary economic sanctions in 50 days, which would target other nations that do business with Russia.
President Trump has in recent weeks expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Moscow continues to fire missiles into Ukraine despite the White House’s push for a ceasefire. He described his frustration in a Monday White House meeting.
“I go home and tell the first lady, ‘I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She says, ‘Oh really? Another [Ukrainian] city was just hit,’” Trump said on Monday.
“We’re very, very unhappy with them and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” he said. “Tariffs at about 100 percent.”
The White House later clarified that Trump meant “secondary sanctions” and not tariffs.
Bacon, one of three Republicans elected in districts that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, praised Trump’s announcement on Monday but said he wants to see more from the president. Bacon recently announced he would retire after his term.
“I think we should have total moral clarity here. Russia is the invader. They’re bombing the cities. And what will happen if Russia prevails in Ukraine? And we should have this clarity. We know Moldova will likely follow immediately. Georgia and Azerbaijan are very vulnerable,” he said.
“If we fail in Ukraine, it’s going to cost us a lot more in the future. And Ukraine, how do we get here? They wanted to be aligned with the West. They want to be democracy. They want free markets. They’d like to be in the EU. And Russia couldn’t tolerate that,” Bacon added.
“And so I hope the president does more than just sell weapons to NATO, for NATO to give to Ukraine. I hope that he does that, plus more,” he continued.
On the secondary sanctions, Bacon added: “I wish it wasn’t 50 days. I wish it was like 20 days or 30 days, but we do need to punish China, Iran, North Korea, for basically propping up Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.”
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