The Memo: Trump and his primary rivals get set for fight over Ukraine

Published

2 years ago

May 29, 2023

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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.

World

‘They’re the ones who wronged us’: Freed Palestinian prisoner Zakaria Zubeidi rebukes UK and US over ‘harm they’ve caused’

Published

53 mins ago

February 1, 2025

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'They're the ones who wronged us': Freed Palestinian prisoner Zakaria Zubeidi rebukes UK and US over 'harm they've caused'

One of the most high-profile prisoners to be released by Israel has told Sky News that the world has ignored Palestinians and says Britain is one of the countries he blames for taking away his freedom.

Zakaria Zubeidi was imprisoned in 2019 after being found guilty by an Israeli military court of involvement in terrorism.

He was released as part of the ceasefire agreement and welcomed back to the West Bank by crowds of well-wishers, including the man who was prime minister less than a year ago.

Analysis: Zubeidi an ‘extremist’ to Israel but inspiration to Palestine

In his first interview with a European broadcaster, Zubeidi told Sky News he still believes in “a resistance that will lead us to freedom” but claimed that Israeli occupation of the West Bank was wholly down to the international community.

“My life is worthless without freedom,” he said, speaking in Ramallah. “Freedom has no price. But the world that has denied me my freedom – particularly Britain, France, and the United States – must return what they have taken from me and my children.

“They are the ones who need to reconsider their mistakes, not me.

“They are the ones who have wronged us, and they should think about rectifying the harm they have caused to me and my children.”

Zubeidi, whose mother, brother and son have all died as a result of Israeli military action, has admitted involvement in a 2002 bombing that killed six people.

However, he has also been acclaimed by many in the West Bank as a symbol of the resistance.

He was famously part of a group of prisoners who briefly escaped their Israeli jail after using kitchen utensils to dig a tunnel.

“My message to the Palestinian people is to prioritise their safety and well-being because the assault being carried out against them is immense. I have no message for the occupation [Israel],” he said.

“My message is to the world – the same world that granted the occupation the right to live on my land – to grant me my freedom.”

In common with many other released prisoners, he claimed to have been beaten while behind bars, saying: “The situation in Israeli prisons is extremely harsh. We’ve witnessed it all: severe beatings, attack dogs, relentless insults. Every form of abuse imaginable has been inflicted on the bodies of our prisoners.”

While many in Israel will consider Zubeidi to be a dangerous, murderous extremist, he is considered a totemic figure in the West Bank, and a natural leader in Jenin, where he grew up in a refugee camp.

After being released, Israeli authorities banned him from returning to Jenin.

Instead, he has remained in Ramallah, where a long line of people came to a school building to shake his hand and hug him.

Among them, former prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who resigned less than a year ago.

He embraced Zubeidi and told Sky News the release of prisoners could be a catalyst for an enduring peace deal.

“We would like to see all prisoners released and we would like to see all hostages going home,” said Mr Shtayyeh.

He continued: “It’s a historic moment for everybody. It’s time for this bloodshed to stop. And I think it is a moment of truth for everybody.

“In Gaza, 60,000 people have been killed, more than 120,000 have been injured. And of course, there have been so many casualties in Israel, too.

“We know that. And this time Palestinians are desperate for peace. We want a genuine peace process that does really bring peace and justice for everybody.”

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Hamas-run authorities in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The offensive followed Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when it took 250 people hostage and killed around 1,200 others.

UK

‘We’ll play some more soon’: Emails believed to be from Prince Andrew to Epstein after he claimed to cut contact revealed

Published

53 mins ago

February 1, 2025

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'We'll play some more soon': Emails believed to be from Prince Andrew to Epstein after he claimed to cut contact revealed

The Duke of York told Jeffrey Epstein they would “play some more soon!” two months after he claimed he cut contact with the convicted paedophile.

The emails were disclosed in a filing by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are defending an appeal by former Barclays boss, Jes Staley.

Staley is challenging a decision to ban him from the industry for misleading regulators on his ties to Epstein, one of the most severe measures the FCA can impose.

The court documents show an exchange of messages between Epstein and “a member of the British Royal Family” – believed to be Prince Andrew. It suggests the duke and Epstein – who killed himself in jail in 2019 – were in contact for longer than he has previously admitted.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. After his release, Epstein and the duke were photographed walking together in New York’s Central Park, in December 2010.

The prince has claimed this was the last contact he had with Epstein.

In a 2019 interview with Newsnight, Andrew said he visited Epstein in person to tell him they could no longer be friends, believing it was the “honourable” thing to do.

Yet emails between the pair, which were handed to a court in London, show they kept exchanging messages until at least 27 February 2011.

On this date, Andrew emailed Epstein: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”

The disgraced duke has come under fire for his relationship with the paedophile financier. In 2022, he settled a multi-million pound claim with Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with the royal.

Andrew stepped down from royal duties and public life and had claimed he never met Ms Giuffre. He agreed to settle the claim without admitting liability.

He has previously strenuously denied all allegations against him.

Newsnight interview ‘ill-advised’ – aide

Other court documents released on Friday revealed one of the prince’s senior aides admitted in a letter to an alleged Chinese spy that the duke’s Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis was “hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful”.

Dominic Hampshire wrote to Yang Tengbo on Buckingham Palace notepaper in March 2020.

In the letter, he said they “have dealt with the aftermath of a hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful television interview”.

Mr Hampshire praised Mr Yang, writing that “in what originally seemed like a lost cause, you have somehow managed to not only salvage but maintain and then incredibly, enhance the reputation of my principal [Prince Andrew] in China.

“Under your guidance, we found a way to get the relevant people unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor; we orchestrated a very powerful verbal message of support to China at a Chinese New Year’s dinner and between the three of us, we have written, amended and then always agreed a number of letters at the highest level possible.”

Mr Yang said in a statement on Friday the spying allegations against him are “entirely unfounded”.

The Jes Staley emails

Emails showed Epstein inviting Andrew to meet Staley on 27 February, saying: “jes staley will be in London on next tue afternoon, if you have time [sic].”

Andrew replied: “Jes is coming on 1st March or next week?”

The pair then engaged in a discussion about press articles, before the duke told Epstein they would “play some more soon”.

Sky News has contacted Prince Andrew for a comment.

The prince still making uncomfortable headlines for his family

Just when you thought Prince Andrew couldn’t fall any further, another twist emerges in his shameful association with Jeffrey Epstein.

He’d claimed the last time he had contact with the convicted paedophile was in December 2010, when the pair were infamously photographed together in Central Park.

The Duke of York insisted he thought he was being “honourable” when choosing to stay with Epstein and personally tell him they could no longer be friends.

But this email suggests the pair stayed in touch beyond this date. We don’t know for how long, but it leaves Prince Andrew once more facing difficult and damaging questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

And yet again, Andrew’s judgement is under considerable scrutiny.

Last year had ended badly for the disgraced Duke after his association with an alleged Chinese spy was exposed. He had to keep clear of the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas day gathering at Sandringham.

The Duke of York has always denied witnessing or suspecting any of Epstein’s behaviour.

But their friendship cost him his reputation.

He now leads a reclusive life in Windsor, stripped of responsibility and royal roles. Yet still making uncomfortable headlines for the rest of his family.

Environment

This is New Jersey’s largest high-rise residential rooftop solar array

Published

2 hours ago

January 31, 2025

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This is New Jersey's largest high-rise residential rooftop solar array

New York-based real estate developer LeFrak has installed the largest rooftop solar array on a high-rise multifamily residential building in New Jersey.

The Beach, a 336-unit waterfront rental tower in Jersey City’s Newport neighborhood, now hosts a 180kW, 450-panel rooftop solar system that will offset 13% of the building’s carbon emissions, equivalent to removing 37 gas-powered cars from the road annually. Sunkeeper Solar, a Brooklyn-based solar energy company, installed the nearly $1 million system.

The new rooftop solar offsets energy produced by electrical systems used in The Beach’s common area spaces, including those that power elevators and lighting, as well as cooling and ventilation in the high-rise building’s lobby and amenities. The Beach’s roof design and the building’s orientation optimize the amount of solar power generated by the system.

“Solar makes sense on multi-family buildings, and especially because Jersey City is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, projects like this should become the bar for new development. Going solar saves consumers money, reduces air pollution, and creates a more resilient energy grid – solar is a double green amenity,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey.

Last year, LeFrak partnered with EV-sharing platform Envoy to offer Newport residents exclusive car-sharing benefits and access to a fleet of on-site electric vehicles, representing Envoy’s first expansion into New Jersey.

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