WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Varney & Co. on Fox Business to discuss President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Russia, military action against Venezuelan drug cartels, and the need to hold China accountable for aiding Putin.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Trump’s pressure campaign against Russia and China: “Let’s not mistake a photo op in Beijing for a change in world order. The United States actually has treaty alliances with NATO and countries like Japan that are deep and strong. What you see here is a relationship of convenience. Kim Jong Un joining Vladimir Putin and the Iranians– this is a gang of thugs that have come together under the guise of a celebration there in Beijing. It underscores that Xi Jinping is desperate to reach out, to bring any type of friends alongside right now, because Russia is finding itself increasingly isolated—the same for Iran. What you’ve got is a situation where President Trump is imposing maximum pressure. And with respect to Russia, President Trump is certainly very disappointed, but he has imposed tariffs again on India. Now, the United States is under President Trump’s leadership in a position to actually expand its energy production to supplant Russia in Europe. And the Indians need to stop refining Russian crude oil and supplying that to Europe so that we can actually get the maximum pressure campaign to take effect on Russia and bring the Ukrainian War to an end.”
Hagerty on Trump’s military strike against Venezuelan drug cartels: “In my home state of Tennessee, we’re losing 3,000 lives of young people a year to drug overdose. President Trump is trying to stop this, which is something Joe Biden was wholly unwilling to do. This carnage has to come to an end. President Trump has put in incredible tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. He’s trying to deal with Venezuela. Now that the Mexican border or the land border has been resealed, they’re using international waters. That’s why he came to stop them. Tren de Aragua is operating in my state and probably most states across the nation, again, running drugs that are killing our kids. This is a war on America. President Trump is bringing it to an end, and I applaud it.”
Hagerty on Trump pressing Putin to make a deal: “I don’t think [a peace deal] is lost. What you’re seeing is President Trump gaining more and more resolve to impose more and more pressure on Vladimir Putin. The tariffs in India demonstrate how serious President Trump is. India needs to stop refining Russian crude oil and sending it to Europe. We need to supplant them. We need to put more economic pressure on Putin, and the two leaders need to come to the table to make a deal. I expect to see more pressure coming from President Trump. This disappointment will manifest itself again in a maximum pressure campaign where President Trump has many more levers to push.”
Hagerty on China’s role in aiding Russia: “As long as China continues to help Russia, it makes it more difficult. I think China needs to get that message as well. There are many issues between the United States and China, but this is certainly one of them. China, North Korea, and Iran have all come to the aid of Russia in this, and every one of them is receiving their own levels of pressure. Iran is in terrible shape. North Korea– more to come there. And China, that’s the key. The more pressure we can put on China, the more it’s likely to bring President Putin to a more reasonable place.”
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