Donald Trump’s son urges halt to US aid to Ukraine

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) – The eldest son of former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged a halt to US aid to Ukraine.

Money should be directed to those who were hit last week by Hurricane Ian in the state of Florida, Donald Trump Jr. said on Twitter. “How about we get every single Floridian back into their homes and back to normal before we send one more cent to the Ukraine.”

The storm that hit the southern US state has killed more than 100 people, according to multiple reports. Rescue efforts remain underway.

After calling the storm the "deadliest" in Florida's history, President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency, and Congress is due to vote on disaster aid funding.

US President Joe Biden announced a new $625 million security assistance package for Kyiv during a Tuesday telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the White House.

Biden also signed a stopgap spending bill on Sept. 30 that includes $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine, which Russia attacked this February, starting the war.

The Trump son is an outspoken political supporter of his father.

In December 2019, then-President Trump was impeached after a congressional panel found that he had withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure it to start a politically damaging probe of Biden, his political rival. In February 2020, a majority of senators voted to convict Trump of abuse of power, but he was acquitted, as a supermajority is needed.

During his four years in office, numerous reports also said Trump favored recognizing Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.