Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron met with former President Donald Trump in a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
Cameron, who now serves as the U.K. foreign secretary, is in the U.S. to urge lawmakers to back additional funding to Ukraine in its war against Russia and a spokesperson for the British government’s Foreign Office described it as “standard practice” to meet with an opposition candidate, with Trump being the presumptive Republican nominee for this year’s presidential election.
It is unclear how the meeting went or what exactly was discussed. Trump has previously stated that he would end the war within 24 hours should he be reelected while he has also touted converting the cost of weapons transfers to Ukraine into a loan.
Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron met with former President Donald Trump in a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago on Monday. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images, left, and Spencer Platt/Getty Images, right.)
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Cameron will meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday to discuss the $60 billion military aid package which he has held up for months, while the pair will also discuss the Israel-Gaza war.
Last week, Cameron called on Western leaders to put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans in Congress to approve the additional aid for Ukraine, as Britain and the European Union have already done.
“Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress,” Cameron said in a video posted on social media platform X. “I’m going to go and see him next week and say, ‘Ukraine needs that money. It is American security, it’s European security, it’s Britain’s security that’s on the line in Ukraine, and they need our help.’”
An injured man walks past a body of a man who was killed by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
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A $95 billion aid package for Ukraine has been bogged down in the House of Representatives for months as populist conservatives seek to block further funding for the two-year-old conflict and some mainstream Republicans demand concessions on border security before supporting the bill.
Earlier this year, Cameron also urged Congress to get behind more financial aid and warned lawmakers not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.
The UK has pledged almost $15 billion in overall support to Ukraine since February 2022, of which $9 billion is for military assistance.
The war is now in its third year with no immediate end in sight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (REUTERS)
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Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies are drawing lines in the sand ahead of what is expected to be an intense inter-GOP battle over additional aid for Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put forward a funding plan late last month, but Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., is calling for any funding to Ukraine to be balanced with spending cuts elsewhere and for it to be paired with U.S. border policy changes.
If the Ukraine funding legislation passes the House, it faces a clearer path through the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has already established his support for additional help for Ukraine.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Elizabeth Elkind as well as Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.