Donald Trump Faces Growing Republican Backlash Over Forei...

By Andrew Stanton

Weekend Staff Writer

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President Donald Trump is facing criticism from members of his own party over his approach to foreign policy issues like the Russia-Ukraine war and his campaign in the Caribbean.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Trump remains popular among most Republicans, recent polls show. But some congressional Republicans have been increasingly willing to break with the president as his overall approval rating slides. Two major foreign policy issues have drawn rebuke from some on the right. Those include the simmering tension between the U.S. and Venezuela as the U.S. has carried out strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, as well as his plan to end the yearslong war between Russia and Ukraine.

Backlash is coming from both traditional Republicans who have been skeptical of Trump in the past, as well as the party’s more conservative wing.

What To Know

Some conservative and libertarian-minded Republicans have broken with Trump over his approach to Venezuela. Many Republicans have embraced an “America First” view of foreign policy and oppose regime change in other countries if they do not believe it benefits Americans.

The U.S. has expanded its presence in the Caribbean amid recent strikes on suspected cartel ships, and Trump has said there will be land action in Venezuela “very soon” aimed at weakening drug cartels. Speculation has grown about the potential for a wider conflict or regime change in Venezuela, but not all Republicans are in support of the idea.

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Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who fell out with Trump over his handling of the Epstein files, has voiced opposition to regime change in Venezuela. She has broken with Trump over other foreign policy issues in the past as well.

“Fix health insurance. Not regime change in Venezuela,” she wrote Monday on X.

On Saturday, she wrote that Congress has “the sole power to declare war in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.”

Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, shared a National Review article written by Andrew McCarthy on X, raising concerns about the legality of the strikes.

He posted a quote from the article that reads, “It is not permitted, under the laws and customs of honorable warfare, to order that no quarter be given — to apply lethal force to those who surrender or who are injured, shipwrecked, or otherwise unable to fight.”

That post came as Trump has faced questions about the legality of a second strike on a boat suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean. The second strike was allegedly ordered to leave “no survivors” after an initial strike in September, The Washington Post reported. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has maintained that the strikes are lawful.

Lawmakers from both parties have called for greater congressional scrutiny of the strikes.

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has raised similar concerns.

“How is it that we have money for regime change in Venezuela but not money to pay air traffic controllers in our country? @SpeakerJohnson call us back and let’s vote to fund the parts of government that people actually want or need: air traffic controllers, soldiers, WIC, etc.,” he wrote on X.

Trump’s proposal for a peace deal on the Russia-Ukraine war has also drawn scrutiny. Critics have raised concerns that the deal may be too favorable to Russia, pointing to proposals that Ukraine would give up the eastern Donbas region and shrink its army to end a war started by Russia more than three years ago.

Representative Don Bacon, a centrist Nebraska Republican who is retiring at the end of his term, said he is not seeing “moral clarity” from the White House on the issue during an interview on ABC News’ This Week.

“I want to see America be the leader of the free world, staying up for what's right, not for who can make a buck. I don't want to see a foreign policy based on greed. I want to see it based on doing the right thing. I want to be the city on the hill that Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln talked about, and not a country that's pursuing the big dollar,” Bacon said.

Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, said on CBS News’ Face the Nation that he agrees that Trump’s goal of peace is “incredibly important,” but voiced concerns about Trump’s proposal.

“One thing that I think everybody understands is that you can't have- you can't be America first and pro-Russia, because Russia is a self-declared adversary of the United States,” he said. “It's fielding new, advanced nuclear weapons that are specifically targeting the United States. It's constantly attacking the United States with offensive cyber. It continuously identifies both NATO and the West, the United States as its adversary.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, spoke out against the deal on X.

“Putin has spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool. If Administration officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace, then the President ought to find new advisors. Rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests. And a capitulation like Biden’s abandonment of Afghanistan would be catastrophic to a legacy of peace through strength,” McConnell wrote on November 21.

What People Are Saying

Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, wrote in a November 21 X post: “This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace. Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Vladimir Putin. The size and disposition of Ukraine’s armed forces is a sovereign choice for its government and people. And any assurances provided to Putin should not reward his malign behavior or undermine the security of the United States or allies. In particular, any suggestion that we can pursue arms control with a serial liar and killer like Putin should be treated with great skepticism.”

Representative Mike Turner said on CBS News’ Face the Nation on the second strike against the suspected drug boat: “Obviously, if that occurred, that would be—be very serious, and I agree that, that—that would be an illegal act. That is not the legal opinion or the information or the legal justification, the acts that have been described to Congress that are being undertaken in—in this.

"There are very serious concerns in Congress about the attacks on the so-called drug boats down in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and the legal justification has been provided. But this is—is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress, and there is an ongoing investigation.”

Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, told CNN regarding the strikes on Sunday: “I don't know if I believe that at all.”

What Happens Next

Trump continues to face criticism over his handling of these foreign policy issues. Lawmakers have said they will conduct oversight into the Venezuela strikes, while debate over the Russia-Ukraine peace deal continues.

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