Speaker Mike Johnson blasts Zelensky while affirming Putin is aggressor

House Speaker Mike Johnson has admonished Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s behavior toward President Trump on Friday while also warning that Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin can’t be trusted.Johnson (R-La.) — saying he was aghast at the cringe-worthy public Oval Office spat between Trump, Zelensky and Veep JD Vance — left open the possibility that “someone else needs to lead” Ukraine if its leader doesn’t “come to his senses” and apologize to the commander in chief.“I have participated in a lot of bilateral meetings in my time with heads of state and other dignitaries,” Johnson, 53, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.“I’ve never seen anything like President Zelensky’s behavior there.“He berated and interrupted his host instead of expressing gratitude for the extraordinary help that the US has provided his country, and effectively helped him stay alive and stay in power,” the Republican speaker.

“The way that that went down was very disappointing.”On Friday, Zelensky, 47, got into a heated back-and-forth with Trump, 78, in front of the cameras after pushing back against key aspects of the president’s plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.The heated confrontation took place after Zelensky questioned Vance’s insistence that Ukraine conduct diplomacy with Russia despite Putin’s lengthy track record of violating agreements.Trump later booted Zelensky from the White House, and the two sides declined to sign the mineral rights agreement that they had been expected to during that visit.Johnson has a mixed record on supporting Ukraine, having voted against tranches of aid to it in the past, then last year putting his speakership at risk by bringing up a roughly $60.8 billion Ukraine aid package for a vote on the House floor.Rep.

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) torged ahead with a motion to oust him from his leadership position in response, something that Democrats ultimately helped shoot down.The GOP House spe...