Trump Jr. Joins GOPers in Slamming Neocon Hawk's 'Ukraine in NATO' Gamble

NATO membership for Ukraine would result in the US being dragged from fighting a proxy war into “a direct war with Russia,” ex-President Donald Trump’s son has warned.

Trump Jr.'s post referenced an earlier tweet made by US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), where the lawmaker argued that giving Ukraine NATO membership is "vital to the future security of Europe and the world."

Graham had also doubled down on his support for the Biden administration's latest decisions regarding a new package of military assistance worth $800 million to Ukraine. As part of the most recent package, the Pentagon also announced the planned transfer of cluster munitions to Kiev. However, Graham appeared convinced that thrusting such lethal weapons to the regime led by President Volodymyr Zelensky was exactly the sort of "tools' they "need".

Sen. Lindsey Graham's proposal to congressional colleagues to potentially introduce and pass a resolution urging Ukraine's admission into NATO has already sparked tremendous backlash.

Republican 2024 presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy accused the Republican lawmaker of “marching us to the brink of nuclear war” on Saturday for pushing for Ukraine’s NATO membership. Referring to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as Joe Biden's "bully-friend", he tweeted that ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania, membership for Kiev in the alliance "should be a hard red line.”

"This is madness," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had tweeted. She insisted that such moves could "bring us to the brink of World War 3."

"Absolutely not. This is exactly wrong - as usual - and could very well lead us to war with Russia, something no one should want," Republican Senator Rand Paul said in a statement on Friday.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado tweeted that surely Lindsey Graham was aware that NATO membership for Kiev would spell "American troops on the ground in Ukraine."

Ohio GOP Rep. Warren Davidson lashed out at Lindsey Graham's effort, branding it, "essentially a declaration of war."

"HARD NO... Epically bad idea. Low zero," tweeted Davidson.

Conservative commentator Carmine Sabia echoed these thoughts, tweeting that it appeared that Sen. Lindsey Graham was "in love with the idea of WWIII".

In the run-up to the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is touring European countries in an effort to lobby for his country’s entry into the US-led military bloc. Earlier in June, the comedian-turned-president said that Kiev hoped to receive a clear invitation to join the bloc at the alliance's gathering in the Lithuanian capital on July 11-12.

However, while the Brussels-based bloc has said it would not slam its door on any country joining it, NATO members have been reluctant to add Ukraine to the bloc anytime soon. Germany intends to insist at the summit that Ukraine should not be granted NATO membership, UK media reported on Saturday, citing a source within the bloc. Berlin ostensibly planned to urge other NATO members to focus on "security assurances to Kiev", in order not to risk a war with Russia.

"Berlin is stand-offish at the prospect of offering immediate membership," and wants "a process and time to develop guarantees to essentially block membership," the source was cited as saying.

US President Joe Biden himself has been giving ambiguous statements about Ukraine’s potential future NATO membership, saying recently that his administration would not “make it easy” for Kiev to join. US officials this week indicated Ukraine was not yet eligible to join NATO, and no one should expect the alliance to grant them membership after the summit in Vilnius.