Trump's latest appointments spark optimism among Ukraine’s backers

Politico reports.

It is noted that both lawmakers have hewed to the Trump-era America First foreign policy doctrine but are still ardent hawks when it comes to the U.S. approach to adversaries like China, Iran and Russia - far from the isolationist wing of the Republican party that would seek to abandon Ukraine or NATO.

Rubio and Waltz questioned votes against previous U.S. aid packages for Ukraine. The report explains this was not due to a lack of support for Ukraine but because officials believed the U.S. was spending too little on securing its southern border.

Congressman Waltz even proposed lifting U.S. restrictions on how Ukraine could use its long-range weapons against Russia. The Biden administration, despite its full support for Ukraine, did not take this step.

“Kyiv is quite calm and quite comfortable with the national security officials announced so far. Those pushing a narrative of anxiety in Kyiv are doing this for their own purposes and are doing Ukraine a disservice,” said Daniel Vajdich, a Republican foreign policy expert and president of Yorktown Solutions.

• Earlier, Donald Trump invited Congressman Mike Waltz to join his team as a national security adviser.
• Billionaire Elon Musk to head the new government efficiency department in the Trump administration.
• Trump nominates former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the next US Ambassador to Israel.
• Trump also announced who he would appoint to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency.