Mike Johnson Breaks With Trump, Calls Putin a 'Threat to America,' Warns of New Axis Forming on President's Watch

[Celerity]

108. Dodgy, stitched-up article from a questionable source. It takes a few snippets of real quotes then falsely frames them.

Johnson was not critical of Trump to any real degree. He was kissing his arse over and over.

full video here:

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/02/politics/video/sotu-speaker-johnson-says-putin-is-agressor-in-ukraine-war

Murkowski is the one who called Putin a threat to America, not Johnson. The article is misinfo there.

Here is the full transcipt when they discuss Ukraine:

https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sotu/date/2025-03-02/segment/01

BASH: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in Washington, where the state of our union is still picking our jaws up off the floor. We are watching the fallout after a remarkable Oval Office meeting

this past week. The fallout is absolutely continuing. And we saw the shouting match between the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, and also the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And it left Zelenskyy's war-torn country in limbo, at an impasse with its most powerful ally, the United States while global friends and foes race to adjust to the new reality under President Trump, a transactional America first foreign policy that may cast aside longstanding alliances.

In two days, President Trump will address a joint session of Congress six weeks into his norm-shattering second term.

Here with me now is the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

Thank you so much for being here, sir.

You said that what we witnessed in the Oval Office was an American president putting America first. What does America first mean to you? Does it mean that America's role in the world is no longer to support democracies when threatened with tyranny?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): No, America first is everything that that phrase implies.

I have always considered myself a Reagan Republican. I believe in the idea that he used to articulate well that, after World War II, America had a very certain responsibility. We're the last great superpower on the planet. It's very important that we maintain that status.

But we cannot maintain that status unless we maintain our own strength. And we achieve peace through strength. That was also a Reagan doctrine. So, what President Trump is doing is restoring that principle. He is a strong hand returned to the White House in a very perilous time on the world stage.

We have to bring about an end to this war in Ukraine. Putin is the aggressor. It is an unjust war. We have been crystal clear about that. But now is the time to bring it to an end. And what President Trump was trying to do in the Oval Office when Zelenskyy acted so inappropriately, in my view, was to offer them an agreement that would be a win-win-win across the board.

The mineral rights agreement is a fantastic solution to bring about an end to this conflict. And I would have hoped that President Zelenskyy would have understood that and showed some gratitude.

BASH: I want you to listen to what your fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said. She had some pretty harsh words for the strategy and what she witnessed in the Oval Office.

She said -- quote -- "I know foreign policy is not for the faint of heart, but, right now, I'm sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world."

I want you to respond to that. And, also, you just said very clearly that Vladimir Putin and Russia, they are the aggressors. We have not heard that from President Trump recently.

JOHNSON: Well, I think he's been very clear on that. And I think Senator Murkowski's view on this is plainly wrong.

The person who walked away from the table yesterday was President Zelenskyy. I mean, I -- look, I have been involved in a lot of bilateral meetings like this with heads of state and dignitaries. There's a certain protocol to these events.

But for him to act as he did was rather shocking to everyone. I mean, President Zelenskyy, instead of showing gratitude, he interrupted and berated his hosts at a very perilous time for his country. He should have been anxious, I think, to enter into this agreement.

Think of it. The mental rights agreement would be a win-win for both countries. It would give us an economic interest there, and everyone around the world knows that America will always defend our interest and our people. It would have -- we would have created an economic partnership with Ukraine at a time when it needs to be reemerging.

[09:05:09]

BASH: Yes.

JOHNSON: And that would have been a great thing. And I don't understand why President Zelenskyy would not accept that gratefully.

And I think it's a big mistake, and I hope he changes his mind, because we have got to bring an end to this conflict.

BASH: Well, it sounds like he still does want that deal. And what he was trying to say -- and I'm not going to argue with you about the way that he said it. Certainly, there was yelling on both sides, as anybody who watched it could see.

But his concern was the security risk that Ukraine is under. And he doesn't feel confident that anybody should trust Vladimir Putin.

Do you think that President Trump should be trusting Vladimir Putin?

JOHNSON: President Trump said very clearly, trust but verify.

I mean, he is trying to be the change agent to breaker -- to broker a peace and an end to this conflict. And you have to have both parties at the table to do that. You have to negotiate with both parties. And there has to be a willingness on both sides to bring it to an end.

BASH: Yes. I just...

JOHNSON: Look, President Trump has shown he will not tolerate someone not fulfilling their end of a deal. And I think that this deal, the time has come. I think it's in the interest of America, of Ukraine, Russia, all of our European allies and everyone. So I'm very hopeful, as the president has said, that President Zelenskyy will come back to the table and recognize that peace is the solution here.

BASH: Less than a year ago, you risked your speakership to support more aid to Ukraine. You were pretty emotional, saying that history judges us for what we do.

Now do you think the United States should halt military assistance to Ukraine?

JOHNSON: Well, remember, as I said then and have said consistently until today, the entire point of providing the aid was to allow Ukraine to sustain itself and position them for peace negotiations.

The whole idea behind it was to hold the line to eliminate the deaths of women and children and innocent people in their country until President Trump could return to the Oval Office. I was convinced that that was going to happen and that he would be the one that was powerful enough, strong enough on the world stage to bring both parties to the table.

That is exactly the moment that we are in now. The plan worked, but now Zelenskyy has to follow through. And the fact that he acted as he did, I think, was a great disappointment. I hope it's not the end of it.

BASH: Last question on this, and then I want to turn to what's going on, on the Hill.

What is your view of Vladimir Putin?

JOHNSON: I think Vladimir Putin is an old-school communist, a former KGB agent, and he's not to be trusted, and he is dangerous.

The way I view this is that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are engaged in a new axis, axis powers, and they are not on America's side. Let's be crystal clear about that. You have to walk circumspectly in these perilous times on the world stage.

But America is back. America is strong again.

BASH: Yes.

JOHNSON: And that is good for us and for freedom-loving people around the world

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-daily-boulder-bias/