[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by detbuch

It has not been a secret that Trump believed that the Europeans were not assisting as much as he though they should. He had stated it several times including to the NATO Secretary General. The limited time left to OK the aid is why he did finally OK it. Congressman Rob Portman corroborated Trump's reasoning. He had discussed with Trump the necessity of getting the aid without further delay, and he said that the only reason that Trump said he wanted to delay it was that the Europeans were not doing enough. (And Portman agreed with him). Trump claims that after he put a hold on the aid and why, he got calls from some that they were willing to pony up more. That could be a "he said." I don't know. But Ken Vogel reported in the NYT that Ukraine didn't know until a month after the call that a hold had been put on the aid. It's a hell of a way to bribe someone when you haven't revealed to that person what the bribe is.

What did Rudy tell Zelensky's representative?