\n<\/p>\n
President Biden denounced former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday for encouraging Russia to attack certain NATO allies, calling the comments \u201cdumb,\u201d \u201cshameful,\u201d \u201cdangerous\u201d and \u201cun-American\u201d as he implored House Republicans to defy their putative nominee and pass new security aid for Ukraine and Israel.<\/p>\n
In a televised statement, Mr. Biden said a $95 billion spending package that the Senate passed earlier in the day on a bipartisan vote was imperative to help defeat the \u201cvicious onslaught\u201d of President Vladimir V. Putin\u2019s Russia against Ukraine. And he linked the legislative debate to Mr. Trump\u2019s campaign speech siding with Moscow over European allies that he deemed \u201cdelinquent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imagine?\u201d Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House. \u201cA former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can \u2014 I never will. For God\u2019s sake, it\u2019s dumb, it\u2019s shameful, it\u2019s dangerous, it\u2019s un-American.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump, who has long expressed admiration for Mr. Putin and derision for NATO and Ukraine, boasted at a campaign rally over the weekend that he had warned NATO allies that did not spend enough on their own militaries that he would not come to their defense if Russia attacked them. That would effectively render toothless Article 5 of the alliance\u2019s charter, which requires members to aid one another in the event of an outside attack. But not only would he not help the allies, Mr. Trump added that he would \u201cencourage\u201d Russia \u201cto do whatever the hell they want\u201d<\/a> against them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The former president\u2019s stunning comments favoring a longtime foe over longtime friends<\/a> have inflamed the debate on Capitol Hill over renewing military aid for Ukraine, which has been stalled for months even as troops there run short of ammunition and struggle to recapture territory seized by Russian forces.<\/p>\n The Senate finally passed the $95 billion security aid package early Tuesday<\/a> on a 70-to-29 vote, with 22 Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in supporting the financing. The package includes $60.1 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, $9.2 billion for humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, Ukraine and other conflict zones, and $4.8 billion for Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies concerned about an aggressive China.<\/p>\n Speaker Mike Johnson, however, vowed not to allow a vote on the House floor without including hard-line policies cracking down on illegal immigration. \u201cIn the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,\u201d he said on Monday night.<\/p>\n