'Extremely upsetting': Republican veterans leaving GOP because of Trump policy

When U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, one of the major policy changes from the Biden Administration involved the Ukraine-Russia War.

Biden, a scathing critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, favored aggressive military aid to Ukraine. Trump, in contrast, says he is trying to negotiate a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia but angrily berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he visited the White House.

In a Capital News Service article syndicated on May 24, reporter Jade Tran takes a look at veterans in Maryland who are openly expressing their disdain for Trump's Ukraine policy.

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The Maryland veterans, according to Tran, are members of Republicans for Ukraine — a national group associated with Defending Democracy Together, which was founded by Never Trump conservatives Bill Kristol and Mona Charen.

Kristol and Charen (once a speechwriter for First Lady Nancy Reagan) are writers for the conservative website The Bulwark and have become unlikely allies of Democrats and liberals in recent years. In 2024, both of them supported Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Tran explains, "Launched in 2023, Republicans for Ukraine is part of an umbrella group that also leads projects such as Republicans for Voting Rights and Republicans for the Rule of Law. It spotlights GOP voters who still support U.S. aid to Ukraine and back the country's fight against Russia — a stance increasingly rare within the party."

One of the Maryland-based veterans who is active in Republicans for Ukraine is 71-year-old Baltimore resident John Ronning, a self-described "lifelong Republican" and "Reagan Republican."

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Ronning told Capital News Service, "I felt like I played a small part in bringing down the Berlin Wall and setting the captive nations free, including Ukraine. So it's kind of extremely upsetting to see my party standing in the way and saying, 'We don’t care what Russia does to Ukraine,' after we helped to get them their freedom."

Jim Naylor, a Marines Corps veteran and member of Republicans for Ukraine, became disillusioned with the GOP because of Trump and the MAGA movement.

Naylor told Capital News Service, "It was 2016 when I started being disaffected with the Republican Party…. There’s nothing left of the Republican Party."

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Read the full Capital News Service article at this Baltimore Sun link (subscription required).