House Republicans said President Donald Trump should keep a proposed minerals deal with Ukraine on the table, despite the public Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday.
“I hope that Zelenskyy will come back humbly to the president, thanking the president for being willing to engage (and) having those business interests,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
He added that it would have been a “really great” way for Ukraine to signal to Russia that America is on its side.
“I hope we’ll go down that road,” Roy said of the proposed deal.
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Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s Friday meeting with Zelenskyy at the White House was cut short after they publicly sparred over the effort to end the Ukraine-Russia war.
An agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in exchange for the financial support the U.S. has given Ukraine since 2022 and future investment in the country was left unsigned and Zelenskyy was asked by Trump to depart early.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, said the deal should “absolutely” still be in consideration. He pointed out that the U.S.’s presence in Ukraine would deter “the threat of having attacks that we had three years ago. So it’s a win-win.”
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“I think everything should be on the table. Right?” remarked House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. “I’m very I was encouraged by President Zelenskyy’s move today to say everything he should have said last week when he was in the Oval Office. And I think that bodes well.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., agreed with his GOP colleagues that the deal shouldn’t be scrapped.
“Donald Trump did the right things,” he said. “What Zelenskyy did to disrespect the president. Watch how he interrupted the president. Watch how he challenged the vice president. It’s unheard of.”
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Trump is “going to have to decide what he wants,” according to Norman.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said, “I think that President Zelenskyy regrets not signing it and keeping his mouth shut.”
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., also said the deal should remain in consideration, “absolutely.”
“I think it’s a win-win for the Ukrainians,” he added. “I was very disappointed they didn’t take advantage of it.”
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In a new development, Zelenskyy addressed the contentious meeting once again Tuesday, and said Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table.”
He further remarked that the discussion with Trump and Vance “did not go the way it was supposed to be,” but Zelenskyy said “it is time to make things right.”
“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he said in a lengthy statement on social media.
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