'Historic betrayal': WSJ calls Republicans 'morally complicit' if they 'fold to Trump' on foreign aid

If a critical funding bill for Ukraine fails to pass through Congress, the eastern European democracy could very well fall to Russia this year. Should that happen, the conservative Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial board argues that blame should lie at the feet of former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

The WSJ's editors recently laid out the stakes of the supplemental foreign aid package currently being debated in the US Senate. The bill would allocate more than $100 billion for the US' allies including Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. While Israel is counting on continued US support for its offensive in Gaza, Taiwan is hoping to shore up its defenses should China decide to annex the island nation. And Ukraine is in desperate need of additional weapons and ammunition to continue fighting against Russia's attempted seizure of its eastern territories in the Donbas region.

"Without more US weapons, Ukraine’s supply of 155 mm shells could be gone before the summer. Ukraine has been doing a brilliant job of makeshift arms production, but Russia is receiving a surge of munitions from Iran and North Korea. Without US artillery and air defenses, US officials believe Ukraine will lose the war this year," the WSJ editorial board wrote. "That would be a tragedy for brave Ukraine and a strategic catastrophe for free Europe and the US. It would also make Republicans morally complicit in an historic betrayal."

READ MORE: Trump's 'malignant narcissism' that killed foreign aid may put US troops in danger: expert

Earlier this week, a 370-page bipartisan bill that would have coupled roughly $14 billion for border security with the foreign aid supplemental package died unceremoniously after Trump publicly railed against it. The former president has made border security a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign, and he has repeatedly warned Republicans against advancing a border bill to President Joe Biden's desk as Trump hopes to instead be the one to take credit for fixing the border should he win in November.

Even though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has been a consistent champion of supporting Ukraine, and Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) has been a reliably conservative border hawk, their efforts fell flat in the face of Trump's pressure campaign. In a Wednesday floor speech, Lankford remarked on how a "popular commentator" threatened to "destroy" him for his work on the bipartisan immigration bill.

"This is a very bad bill for [Lankford's] career," Trump said earlier this week.

The foreign aid supplemental has since been segmented out into its own bill. As of Thursday afternoon, 11 Republican senators voted with Democrats in favor of cloture, meaning the bill appears to have exceeded the 60 votes needed to pass the US Senate. Its fate in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives remains unknown.

READ MORE: Lankford: Commentator threatened to 'destroy' me for trying to fix border in election year