Donalds before meetings with Zelensky: “There is no money in the House of Representatives” for Ukraine

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Tuesday of this week was “not the best time” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Capitol Hill.

“The first thing I will tell you is that there is no money for Ukraine in the House of Representatives right now. He’s not there,” he told reporters in a video posted by The Recount on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Zelensky is expected to meet with congressional leadership and a limited number of lawmakers on Thursday during a visit to Washington. The wartime leader gave a speech to the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, warning that Russia would widen its fight if left unchecked in Ukraine.

Donalds is part of the Republican minority wing that has consistently opposed funding to Ukraine. On Tuesday, he pointed to the U.S. deficit as the reason for his reluctance to send more aid to Ukraine and blamed President Biden for the war.

“Frankly, we have a $2 trillion deficit. Any money we give to Ukraine, we borrow from our future. These are facts,” he said.