Democrat says Trump would ‘hand the keys over to Putin’ if reelected

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said if former President Trump is reelected, he would “hand the keys over” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Slotkin said Ukraine’s fate in its war against Russia would be sealed if Trump gets reelected in November and that Putin likely will continue his conquest through Europe in that case. 

“And I don’t know why anyone would say [Putin would be] done after he’s gone into Ukraine,” Slotkin said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I do think he’s hedging and wanting to see if Donald Trump wins the election. My sense is Donald Trump would hand the keys over to Putin,” she added. “Why fight when you can just get the keys from a new American president?” 

Slotkin said the goal this year is to allow Ukrainians to defend themselves “until we get through this election.” She also predicted Putin would be “thrilled” if the former president wins the election, and he would be “looking to negotiate over Ukraine as soon as possible” with Trump.

She also called out Republicans who have opposed Ukraine aid. The Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid package Tuesday, but the supplemental faces a tough road in the GOP-controlled House.

“And it’s hard to explain sometimes, right, I admit that,” Slotkin said. “Why is it important for us to be engaged in a place like Ukraine? But you either pay now by providing arms to the Ukrainians, or you’re going to pay 10 times more in not just treasure, but also blood if he goes into NATO. So, it just highlights all of it this week.”