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The war in Ukraine is set to become one of the starkest dividing lines in the GOP presidential primary.

Republicans who are largely united on a host of other issues — crime, immigration, the economy and the battle against “wokeness” — have deep tensions over a conflict that has now raged for more than 15 months and consumed many billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

Former President Trump is the front-line contender most skeptical about continuing the vigorous support for Ukraine at its current pitch. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is not far behind — though he has displayed some shaky footing on the topic.

Striking a much sharper contrast, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley insists it is vital for the U.S. that Ukraine should prevail. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to enter the race in the coming weeks, basically shares that view.

The division sets up a fascinating clash as the candidates seek to appeal to a Republican electorate that is itself disunited.

The traditional GOP position that the U.S. needs to assert itself overseas for its own protection still has many adherents. But lots of voters have grown skeptical of foreign entanglements in the roughly two decades since the U.S. launched its invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Voter concerns over government spending — and the sense that taxpayer dollars would be better spent at home — also feed into the debate.

The U.S. has provided almost $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022. It has given tens of billions more in financial and humanitarian assistance.

During his CNN town hall event earlier this month, Trump was asked by moderator Kaitlan Collins whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. 

“I don’t think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people,” Trump responded.

Trump also insisted that, were he to be reelected, he would have the war “settled in one day.”

The former president was vague as to how this cessation of hostilities might be accomplished. But in a March radio interview with Sean Hannity, Trump appeared to envision a deal where Russian would take over some amount of Ukrainian territory.

“I could’ve made a deal to take over something. There are certain areas that are Russian-speaking areas, frankly,” he told Hannity.

Haley espouses a far different view.

“The issue with Russia and Ukraine is so much bigger than Ukraine,” she said at a recent campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa. “It’s not a fight for Ukraine. It’s a fight for freedom. And it’s one that we have to win.”

While Haley made clear she did not support putting U.S. troops on the ground, she underlined what she sees as the high stakes in the conflict.

“A win for Russia is a win for China,” she contended.

DeSantis, who launched his campaign last Wednesday, plainly is closer to Trump’s view.

But the situation in his case is muddled; he was widely perceived to have erred in March, when he described the war as a mere “territorial dispute” in which no U.S. “vital national interests” were at stake.

Amid a backlash, DeSantis complained that his earlier statement had been “mischaracterized.” That comment came in an interview with Piers Morgan during which DeSantis also tagged Putin as a “war criminal” who had to be “held accountable.”

Electorally, it’s not obvious which is the winning position in the Republican primary.

GOP voters are markedly more skeptical of aid to Ukraine than Democrats. 

In an Economist/YouGov poll last week, 47 percent of Democrats wanted the U.S. to increase its military aid to Ukraine, whereas only 25 percent of Republicans agreed. Thirty-nine percent of Republicans wanted to decrease aid, in contrast to only 14 percent of Democrats.

Still, the Economist poll also included an option to maintain aid at its current levels — a position supported by 22 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats.

One key question is whether the erosion of GOP voters’ support for Ukraine picks up pace.

A Pew Research Center poll in January found 40 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believed the U.S. was providing “too much” support for Ukraine. Ten months previously, shortly after the Russia invasion, only 9 percent held that view.

Fred Fleitz, who was chief of staff of the National Security Council during the Trump presidency, told this column that, while the American people were sympathetic to Ukraine’s plight, “Ukraine is not a strategic U.S. interest, and therefore America’s support to Ukraine has to be limited and can’t be open-ended.” 

Fleitz, who is now the vice chair for national security at the America First Policy Institute, added: “We have to make some difficult decisions and find a way to do the right thing for our country first. … My immediate concern is that we are not getting to a solution. We are supporting what will become a long-term war of attrition that is going to end badly for the Ukrainians.”

But Kurt Volker, who was the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations from 2017-19, took a very different view.

He contended that “traditional foreign policy, national-security Republicans” such as Haley, Pence and Capitol Hill leaders including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), held the correct view both substantively and politically.

“Trump will perhaps describe them as chumps who just want the U.S. to do everything,” Volker said. “But the reality is that most Republicans want to see a strong United States, want to see us have good relationships with our allies and want us to be shaping, as [Condoleezza Rice] used to say, ‘a stronger and safer world.’” Business groups endorse debt limit deal as McCarthy scrambles for votes  Companies and individuals without AI expertise will be left behind: tech CEO

Any political calculations are further jumbled because no one knows where the war — or American public opinion about it — will stand early next year, when the first GOP primary voters cast their ballots.

But Ukraine is one topic where those voters will at least have a clear choice before them.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.

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Deion eyes QBs, not ceremony, in CU spring game

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April 20, 2025

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Deion eyes QBs, not ceremony, in CU spring game

  • ESPN News Services

Apr 19, 2025, 08:52 PM ET

BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders didn’t get a chance to fully enjoy the moment as his son, Shedeur, and his just-like-a-son, Travis Hunter, had their jerseys retired Saturday before the spring game.

The Colorado coach had too many other obligations — checking out his new QBs, watching special teams and making sure the product was entertaining for a national television audience tuning in.

He was appreciative of the moment, though, even if the jersey retirement has rankled some former Colorado players and fans.

“I looked in both of their eyes — I know [Shedeur and Travis] were pleased, they were thankful, and they were proud,” Deion Sanders said. “That means a lot to me.

“The time frame, nobody’s going to be happy with. Somebody’s always going have something to say. But the way we are right now, we are a now generation. … those guys deserve what they deserve right now. So I’m proud of them.”

It was one of the last times that Hunter and Shedeur Sanders will team up on the turf at Folsom Field. Standing at midfield, they watched their retired jersey numbers — No. 2 for Sanders, No. 12 for Hunter — unveiled on the east face of the stadium.

This kicked off a busy week for Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner, and Sanders, the Johnny Unitas Award winner as college football’s top QB. Both are expected to be high draft picks when the NFL draft starts on Thursday.

Once the retired ceremony concluded, the Buffaloes got down to the business of football.

Namely, finding a successor for Shedeur Sanders.

It figures to be a two-QB race between Kaidon Salter, a transfer from Liberty, and Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the five-star recruit who arrived on campus last fall to get an early start.

Lewis was the first to take the field and there were early jitters. He mixed the pass with the run, which will be a familiar sight as Colorado emphasizes the ground game this season now that the younger Sanders is gone. The Buffaloes brought in Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as the running backs coach to provide a spark.

“He’s still a young man,” Deion Sanders said of Lewis. “We don’t care about the age and the stage, though.”

Salter showed a veteran’s poise when it was his turn. The dual-threat QB threw for 56 TDs at Liberty and ran for 21 scores.

“I fell in love with the offense,” Salter said of why he chose Colorado. “We have a fully loaded staff here that knows what it takes to get to the next level.”

Shedeur Sanders sauntered along the sideline, taking in the action of his heirs apparent, Lewis and Salter. Looking on as well was Hunter.

Sanders and Hunter became the fifth and sixth players in Colorado’s 135-year history to have their jerseys retired.

At halftime, the Buffaloes announced the late coach Bill McCartney would be honored next season with a statue. McCartney, who led the program to its only football national championship in 1990, died in January at 84.

Deion Sanders said he only wishes the tribute came earlier.

“Why are we waiting? Wouldn’t (McCartney) have wanted him to see (it), to be involved in it, to feel it, to feel the love, the respect, the appreciation? Why’d we wait?” asked Sanders, who plans to honor McCartney next fall by donning a similar hat and jacket as the Hall of Fame coach used to wear. “Everything we get is right now. We want something, we order it off Amazon — right now. We’re not a … waiting generation no more. That’s over. That’s a wrap on that. Everybody in here is impatient. You download stuff right now, putting it out as I speak. Let’s stop.

“I’m sad because I wanted him to see that. He can’t see that.”

Bring on Syracuse?

The attendance was announced at 20,430 fans, which was down from the previous two spring games. Sanders thinks the NCAA nixing a plan to play Syracuse hurt ticket sales. Still, he wants to see more seats filled.

“We do have a tremendous fan base, but we need a little more support when it comes to whatever we do inside the stadium,” Sanders said. “We should be packing it like it’s a game.”

Walk-on honored

Walk-on safety Ben Finneseth was awarded a scholarship by Sanders.

“As soon as I put my head in his shoulder, I said, ‘Thank you for believing in me.’ Because he’s believed in me since Day 1,” Finneseth said. “I can’t thank everyone enough for giving me the opportunity.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Missouri State safety dies in possible gun mishap

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April 20, 2025

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Missouri State safety dies in possible gun mishap
Apr 19, 2025, 06:20 PM ET

Missouri State senior football player Todric McGee died early Saturday from what police believe was a “possible accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

A spokesperson for the Springfield (Missouri) Police Department said they found McGee at his residence while performing a wellness check Friday morning. He was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

He was 21.

“Our football family is in shock and in mourning at the loss of Todric,” Bears head football coach Ryan Beard said in a statement. “We ask everyone to please respect the privacy of his family and our MoState football team at this time as we begin the healing process. Join us in praying for Todric and the people who loved him.”

McGee, a fifth-year senior, started each of the past two seasons for the Bears. He earned All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors in 2023.

“This tragedy has shaken our football program to the core, and we want them to know we are here to support them in every way possible at this extremely difficult time,” athletic director Patrick Ransdell said in the school’s statement.

The investigation into McGee’s death is ongoing, police said.

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U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

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April 20, 2025

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U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

  • Associated Press

Apr 19, 2025, 02:50 PM ET

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

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