Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told The Cipher Brief in a weekend interview that he believes U.S. military aid to Ukraine will continue, because “the vast majority of the American people get” the importance of thwarting Russian aggression, and understand the risk that Russian President Vladimir Putin might attack other European nations if his forces are not stopped in Ukraine.
As The Cipher Brief spoke with former Secretary Pompeo, former President Donald Trump met at his Florida residence with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war. That is why the war will end,” the prime minister said after the meeting with Mr. Trump, who himself has said that he would end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” if re-elected president.
As that meeting was happening, Pompeo expressed “confidence” to The Cipher Brief that House Republicans would ultimately agree to the $60.1 billion in funding for Ukraine that House speaker Mike Johnson has thus far refused to bring to the floor for a vote, echoing those Republican holdouts who have linked the Ukraine crisis to the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Pompeo called the situation at the border an “invasion,” which he said was “far more dangerous than what’s taking place anywhere in the world for the American people today” without offering why he believes that.
