Trump Heard Asking On Tape: How Long Can Ukraine Last 'In Fight With Russia'?
By RFE/RL
U.S. President Donald Trump asked dinner guests how long Ukraine would be able to resist Russian aggression, according to a tape recorded at a 2018 gathering with donors.
“How long would they last in a fight with Russia?” Trump is heard asking in the audio portion of a video recording obtained by U.S. media outlets, including the Associated Press and ABC News, on January 24-25.
Someone is heard on the tape saying, “Without us, not very long."
“Without us," Trump repeats.
Trump also asks whether Kyiv felt it was "going to be OK" in its conflict with Russia.
"They feel they're going to be OK if you support them," someone replies.
"It's always us that has to support everyone," says Trump, who then complains that European nations were not doing enough to share the burden.
The U.S. Senate is currently conducting a trial after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached Trump last month on two articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Democrats have accused Trump of withholding military aid and a White House invitation as a means to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch two investigations that would benefit the U.S. leader’s reelection chances.
Trump dismisses the accusations as a witch hunt and has said his dealings with Zelenskiy were "perfect."
Since 2014, Kyiv has been engaged in a war in eastern Ukraine against Russia-backed separatists in a battle that has killed more than 13,000 people. Russia also seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in a move that has not been recognized by the international community.
Trump is also heard on the tape calling for the removal of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, a key figure in the series of events that led to the president’s impeachment.
She was fired a year later following a campaign by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others, including Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, close associates of Giuliani.
A video recording of an 80-minute dinner at the Trump Hotel in Washington was obtained on January 25 by the AP. Excerpts were first published a day earlier by ABC News.
The recording appears to contradict statements by Trump that he did not know Parnas or Fruman, who were indicted on campaign finance charges in 2019.
Parnas' attorney, Joseph Bondy, has confirmed that he turned over a recording of the dinner to authorities.
On the tape, Parnas appears to say, “The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we got to get rid of the ambassador."
He later tells Trump: "She's basically walking around telling everybody, 'Wait, he's gonna get impeached. Just wait.'"
Trump responds: "Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”
Trump has said he had the right to fire Yovanovitch. Trump removed her in May 2019 and said in a recent interview that he was "not a fan."
With reporting by AP, ABC, Politico, and Reuters
Pompeo Accuses NPR Journalist Of Lying Following Contentious Interview
By RFE/RL
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused a journalist from National Public Radio (NPR) of lying after she published critical fragments of their conversation that eventually went viral.
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, the host of All Things Considered, said on January 24 that Pompeo got angry and ended an interview when she asked him questions about why he didn't defend former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was fired by President Donald Trump last year.
According to Kelly, she was then asked to go into Pompeo's private living room to continue the conversation but told not to bring her recording equipment. Kelly said that Pompeo yelled and used foul language as he said: “Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?”
“He used the F-word in that sentence and many others,” Kelly said.
She said that he then ordered assistants to bring out an unmarked world map and asked her to locate Ukraine, which she said she accurately did. Kelly has a master's degree in European Studies from Cambridge.
Kelly said she was never told that the conversation in the living room was off the record.
Her description of their interaction went viral on Twitter on January 24, just a few days before Pompeo heads to Kyiv on January 30 for his first official visit to Ukraine since taking office in 2018.
Amid the media uproar over Kelly's account of their meeting, Pompeo shot back the following day in a public statement.
"NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month, in setting up our interview and, then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record," Pompeo said.
Pompeo claimed it was "another example" of the media seeking to hurt Trump. However, he did not deny her description of his comments.
The secretary's statement ended with the sentence "it is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine," which seemed to imply that he is claiming that Kelly picked out the South Asian country on the unmarked map instead of Ukraine.
NPR issued a response to Pompeo's statement, calling Kelly a reporter with "utmost integrity" and said it stood behind her report.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also issued a statement later on January 25 criticizing Pompeo, saying his reaction was another sign of the Trump administration's "hostility" toward the press.
"These verbal attacks undermine efforts to protect journalists and erode U.S. standing as a beacon of press freedom," the committee said.
Yovanovitch, a career Foreign Service officer who had served as ambassador to three countries, was asked by the State Department to extend her term in Ukraine.
However, she was then subject to a smear campaign by Trump allies who accused her of impeding an investigation into his political rival's work in Ukraine. During a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump called Yovanovitch "bad news."
Pompeo, Yovanovitch's boss, has avoided answering questions about why he did not publicly defend her reputation amid the smear campaign.
The U.S. Senate is currently conducting a trial after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached Trump last month on two articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Democrats have accused Trump of withholding military aid and a White House invitation as a means to pressure Zelenskiy to launch two investigations that would benefit the U.S. leader’s reelection chances.
Trump dismisses the accusations as a witch hunt and has said his dealings with Zelenskiy were "perfect."
This ends our live blogging for January 25. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.