Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of siding with “a murderous dictator and our adversaries in Russia” over Ukraine and called on Congress to “push back” against what he described as a “disastrous foreign policy.” The statement, posted on X, responded to a new report on the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Kyiv.
Cleaver’s full post, published at 2:55 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2026, read:
“The President of the United States has decided to side with a murderous dictator and our adversaries in Russia, rather than standing with our freedom-loving and democratic allies in Ukraine.
The Congress must push back against the president’s disastrous foreign policy before more damage is done.”
The report Cleaver linked
The post responded to an Associated Press report headlined “US ties with Ukraine hit new low as Trump slights Zelenskyy and eases up on Russia,” by Ben Finley, Matthew Lee and Konstantin Toropin, updated at 6:05 p.m. CDT on Oct. 19. The report said the U.S.-Ukraine alliance is “careening toward a possible breaking point.”
The report said Trump decided Friday to waive sanctions on Russia contained in a bill Congress overwhelmingly passed to support Ukraine. That followed Trump’s announcement of a deal to import Russian diesel fuel, an agreement the report said was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike.
It also described disruptions to SpaceX’s Starshield satellite support for Ukraine’s military, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said left drones unable to intercept Russia’s jet-powered drones. The report said no one had taken responsibility for the restrictions, and that Trump told reporters he did not order them.
Asked Monday whether he would negotiate an end to the war without Zelenskyy, Trump appeared to indicate yes, saying, “I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
The report quoted former U.S. ambassador Dan Fried, now at the Atlantic Council, as saying the administration’s moves appear designed to pressure Zelenskyy and win favor with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also noted criticism from Republicans, including Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who called for congressional hearings on the Starshield disruptions.
Cleaver’s record on Russia
Cleaver has pressed for tougher action on Moscow under both parties. In July 2020, as chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, he wrote to then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urging the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Russia after reports of bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Cleaver called the attack “unprovoked and unconscionable” in an official statement and said NATO allies and others must stand united against Russian aggression.
Later that year, Cleaver voted for H.R. 7108, which suspended normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and extended the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which supports sanctions for human rights abuses. His office said the bill was meant to hold Russia accountable for invading a sovereign nation.
He also voted for H.R. 6930, the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, and S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. Cleaver co-led, with Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), the Ukraine Religious Freedom Support Act, which passed the House and was aimed at Russian violations of religious liberty in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Prior criticism of the president
Cleaver’s language Tuesday echoed a statement he issued Feb. 28, 2025, after the Oval Office meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy. As a member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, he called that meeting “the most embarrassing and shameful” he had witnessed from the Oval Office and said siding with Putin “only benefits Russia, China, and other adversaries.”
In the same statement, Cleaver said he hoped Republicans in Congress would stand with Ukraine as well, a theme he returned to Tuesday in calling for Congress to act. In March 2022, he had said on social media that he supports humanitarian, economic and defense aid for Ukraine.
The administration’s position, as described in the linked report, is that Washington has not stopped providing intelligence to Kyiv. The report said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both made that point, and that Rubio said the Pentagon controls Starshield.
Cleaver’s post came two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.