Former Ambassador to Germany under the Trump administration, Ric Grenell, told “The Count” on Newsmax about the Ukraine crisis: “We don’t have any good choices. But the reality is that the leaders of Russia and China and a whole bunch of other places smell weakness.”
I’m actually, uh, I’ve moved into the pissed-off phase when it comes to foreign policy, because all the work that we did, whether it’s the border, whether it’s the middle east and now what we’re seeing in Europe with NATO and NATO members is really frustrating.
So I just want to start by saying we don’t have any good choices. But the reality is that the leaders of Russia and China, and a whole bunch of other places, they smell weakness. They see. I mean, you just played this clip of Kamala Harris. I mean, that was pathetic. She wasn’t convincing anybody, she was barely getting through her talking points.
And so what we’re learning right now is there’s a difference between a threat of military action and a credible threat, and this Biden team does not have a credible threat.
NEWSMAX HOST: Now we know there are already reports that the U.S. has evacuated or started to evacuate diplomats from Ukraine. Here’s how Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, responded when asked whether the White House had a good handle on how many Americans are left in Ukraine.
NEWSMAX HOST: Now, this just seems like deja vu right here we saw what happened in Kabul. Everybody should evacuate, those chaotic flights out. Is this going to be Afghanistan 2.0?
RIC GRENELL: I mean, really, what Jen Psaki was saying, as you know, we don’t have a plan, and so we really don’t have a handle on the numbers look as as an ambassador in a country that’s one of your number one jobs is protecting American citizens getting them out.
This should have been a plan of action a long time ago. We shouldn’t even be in this situation where we’re evacuating Americans.
Remember, there is no ambassador. We have no ambassador in Ukraine, so you have lower-level individuals trying to coordinate back with Washington.
I can tell you from experience. I’ve been at the State Department for 11 years. The individuals who are in charge of our embassy in Ukraine right now are not making decisions on their own. They’re going back and they’re organizing with the Assistant Secretary [of State] for Europe, who is Karen Donfried, who used to work for the German Marshall Fund where the Germans paid part of her salary.
So this is a disaster situation all over. You’ve got the new Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Schultz, who has already snubbed President Biden and said, “I don’t want to coordinate.” Biden invited him to talk about Ukraine and he said no. Now we’re seeing reports that the French and the Germans are going to organize with the Russians and the Ukrainians on their own. This is a disaster.
The Americans have said we’re going to follow the Europeans, we’re not going to have an America-First policy. We’re going to have a European policy that we’ll just stamp.
I could go down the line and tell you story after story. The Germans aren’t paying their NATO fair share, but yet now are telling Estonia, a member of NATO that they can’t supply weaponry to the Ukrainians.
Where is American leadership? What is happening? Blinken is totally dismissed on the world stage and so is Joe Biden.
NEWSMAX HOST: We know that China, Russia, and Iran are conducting joint naval drills. We know that Ukraine does have somewhat of a port, but do you think that at this stage in the game, do you think that those joint drills are to scare Ukraine or to scare the United States of America, with those three rogue nations coming together?
RIC GRENNEL: Other they’re designed to push back on NATO. To say to NATO, you know, that the Russians and others are not afraid of you. And what’s the response? The Germans are literally undercutting NATO and telling other members of NATO to not to back down. It’s terrible. NATO needs to speak up. Biden needs to do more.
NEWSMAX HOST: And we actually do have a little bit of time. Ambassador Grinnell. So in terms of this situation with the Russians, what do you want to see from the Secretary of State Tony Blinken. We know we gave a press conference after President Biden’s speech. Is he doing enough?
GRENNEL: Look this is to answer this question, I just have to say again. I’m not happy that we’re in this situation. You’re leaving really bad choices to people like me when we have to answer these questions. I just have to say we wouldn’t be in the situation if Donald Trump were the president, but now what I think you have to do is you you have to say to the Germans: “I’m sorry, but we’re putting sanctions on the Nord-Stream 2 pipelines. You’ve got to roll that back immediately. You got to say to member states and NATO: pay your fair share, otherwise, we’re not going to do anything.
You’ve got to have consequences for bad behavior and I would arm the Ukrainians and I would make clear that we’re not happy to be in this situation and that Putin is going to face severe economic consequences, immediately, including on the pipeline.
Former Ambassador to Germany under the Trump administration, Ric Grenell, told “The Count” on Newsmax about the Ukraine crisis: “We don’t have any good choices. But the reality is that the leaders of Russia and China and a whole bunch of other places smell weakness.”RIC GRENELL: Where to begin? This is such chaos. It’s important to note right now, that we are in a situation where we have terrible and bad choices, and that’s what we’re having to choose between. And it’s important to note that elections have consequences and we weren’t in this situation before. We are in this situation after just one year of Joe Biden pushing us to the brink like this. I’m actually, uh, I’ve moved into the pissed-off phase when it comes to foreign policy, because all the work that we did, whether it’s the border, whether it’s the middle east and now what we’re seeing in Europe with NATO and NATO members is really frustrating. So I just want to start by saying we don’t have any good choices. But the reality is that the leaders of Russia and China, and a whole bunch of other places, they smell weakness. They see. I mean, you just played this clip of Kamala Harris. I mean, that was pathetic. She wasn’t convincing anybody, she was barely getting through her talking points. And so what we’re learning right now is there’s a difference between a threat of military action and a credible threat, and this Biden team does not have a credible threat. NEWSMAX HOST: Now we know there are already reports that the U.S. has evacuated or started to evacuate diplomats from Ukraine. Here’s how Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, responded when asked whether the White House had a good handle on how many Americans are left in Ukraine. JEN PSAKI: It’s an open question around the world. We don’t put a chip in Americans when they go to countries around the world and track their movements. People can register with the state department. That’s something they do or they may choose not to register. NEWSMAX HOST: Now, this just seems like deja vu right here we saw what happened in Kabul. Everybody should evacuate, those chaotic flights out. Is this going to be Afghanistan 2.0? RIC GRENELL: I mean, really, what Jen Psaki was saying, as you know, we don’t have a plan, and so we really don’t have a handle on the numbers look as as an ambassador in a country that’s one of your number one jobs is protecting American citizens getting them out. This should have been a plan of action a long time ago. We shouldn’t even be in this situation where we’re evacuating Americans. Remember, there is no ambassador. We have no ambassador in Ukraine, so you have lower-level individuals trying to coordinate back with Washington. I can tell you from experience. I’ve been at the State Department for 11 years. The individuals who are in charge of our embassy in Ukraine right now are not making decisions on their own. They’re going back and they’re organizing with the Assistant Secretary [of State] for Europe, who is Karen Donfried, who used to work for the German Marshall Fund where the Germans paid part of her salary. So this is a disaster situation all over. You’ve got the new Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Schultz, who has already snubbed President Biden and said, “I don’t want to coordinate.” Biden invited him to talk about Ukraine and he said no. Now we’re seeing reports that the French and the Germans are going to organize with the Russians and the Ukrainians on their own. This is a disaster. The Americans have said we’re going to follow the Europeans, we’re not going to have an America-First policy. We’re going to have a European policy that we’ll just stamp. I could go down the line and tell you story after story. The Germans aren’t paying their NATO fair share, but yet now are telling Estonia, a member of NATO that they can’t supply weaponry to the Ukrainians. Where is American leadership? What is happening? Blinken is totally dismissed on the world stage and so is Joe Biden. NEWSMAX HOST: We know that China, Russia, and Iran are conducting joint naval drills. We know that Ukraine does have somewhat of a port, but do you think that at this stage in the game, do you think that those joint drills are to scare Ukraine or to scare the United States of America, with those three rogue nations coming together? RIC GRENNEL: Other they’re designed to push back on NATO. To say to NATO, you know, that the Russians and others are not afraid of you. And what’s the response? The Germans are literally undercutting NATO and telling other members of NATO to not to back down. It’s terrible. NATO needs to speak up. Biden needs to do more. NEWSMAX HOST: And we actually do have a little bit of time. Ambassador Grinnell. So in terms of this situation with the Russians, what do you want to see from the Secretary of State Tony Blinken. We know we gave a press conference after President Biden’s speech. Is he doing enough? GRENNEL: Look this is to answer this question, I just have to say again. I’m not happy that we’re in this situation. You’re leaving really bad choices to people like me when we have to answer these questions. I just have to say we wouldn’t be in the situation if Donald Trump were the president, but now what I think you have to do is you you have to say to the Germans: “I’m sorry, but we’re putting sanctions on the Nord-Stream 2 pipelines. You’ve got to roll that back immediately. You got to say to member states and NATO: pay your fair share, otherwise, we’re not going to do anything. You’ve got to have consequences for bad behavior and I would arm the Ukrainians and I would make clear that we’re not happy to be in this situation and that Putin is going to face severe economic consequences, immediately, including on the pipeline.