President Trump froze funding to Ukraine this week, even though Congress has already allocated the funds.
- Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley suggested it's a tactic to bring the Ukrainians to the negotiating table. Grassley pointed to the letter from Zelensky that Trump read during his address to Congress on Tuesday.
- “I totally disagree with that,” said Hagel. “You don’t compromise the freedom of a nation and allow appeasement through that process. And you cut funding, and you cut assistance to a nation that’s trying to survive?”
- I asked, with all our domestic concerns, why Americans should care about European allies:
“The United States projects power as much as anything because of our relationships with NATO countries around the world,” Hagel said. “Allowing our troops to be stationed somewhere, their ports to be used. We couldn’t project our power if we didn’t have that.”
UPDATE: Sen. Joni Ernst's office did respond to the KMTV's second request for an interview after our deadline. She points toward her support of Iowan Matt Whitaker who was nominated to be the ambassador to NATO.
WATCH HERE
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
An Iowan is nominated as NATO ambassador as President Trump pauses funding to Ukraine.
I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley lined up behind Trump in a call with reporters, but former Nebraska Senator and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel doesn’t agree.
This week, both Iowa senators introduced Iowa attorney Matt Whitaker as the president’s nominee to be NATO ambassador.
“He can articulate through first hand knowledge the evolving global threats confronting our nation and NATO allies,” Sen. Joni Ernst said to Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Meanwhile, there’s a growing difference between the United States and our NATO allies when it comes to funding Ukraine's defense.
I asked Sen. Grassley what he thought of the president pausing Ukraine funding that was already approved by Congress.
“President Trump was saying over the weekend that he was not going to advance any of that money to Zorinsky (Zelensky) until there’s an effort to negotiate,” Grassley said.
“I totally disagree with that,” said Hagel. “You don’t compromise the freedom of a nation and allow appeasement through that process. And you cut funding, and you cut assistance to a nation that’s trying to survive?”
When I interviewed Sen. Joni Ernst in November she affirmed her support for NATO and Ukraine.
I’ve tried twice this week to talk to her about those issues, but she declined the first time and didn’t respond to a second request.
Hagel, though, is worried.
“If we allow Putin to take control of this, and that’s what we’re doing here, Putin won’t stop with Ukraine. No, no, because he will see that we’re all weak. He will see that we don’t care. ‘The United States doesn’t care, well, that’s your problem,’” Hagel said.
I asked, with all our domestic concerns, why Americans should care about European allies.
“The United States projects power as much as anything because of our relationships with NATO countries around the world,” Hagel said. “Allowing our troops to be stationed somewhere, their ports to be used. We couldn’t project our power if we didn’t have that.”
Whitaker told senators the U.S. commitment to NATO was “ironclad.”
