Even some past allies of Donald Trump are stunned by his tumultuous administration.
Former Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a onetime loyalist who echoed Trump’s baseless lie that the 2020 election was stolen, is slamming the president for his disastrous handling of the U.S. economy — and America’s baffling break with its previous foreign policies.
“I don’t understand the idea of, all of a sudden, we’re in alliance with North Korea and Russia,” Brooks told CNN anchor Laura Coates on Tuesday. “Which is what President Trump has been doing by hurting Ukraine.”
Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House last month and was set to sign an agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine regarding access to the nation’s rare minerals in hopes of securing further U.S. protection against Russia.
The televised meeting turned into a blowout that shocked world leaders, political pundits and Americans.
Just days earlier, the U.S. voted against a United Nations resolution that condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine. Rather than siding with its traditional allies, the U.S. joined Russia, North Korea and Belarus. The resolution, which reaffirmed the U.N.’s “commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity” of Ukraine nonetheless passed, 93-18.
Brooks’ concerns about Trump’s second term go beyond foreign policy, however. The former lawmaker reminded Coates that Trump promised voters in 2016 “that he would be able to balance the budget in four years and pay off all of our debt in eight years.”
“And instead, he racked up the worst four years of deficit, accumulated debt and deficit well over $6 trillion of any president in history,” continued Brooks, who couldn’t help but add, “until [former President] Joe Biden came along and did a little bit worse.”
Brooks was loyal to Trump throughout the 2020 election cycle and spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally before the assault on the U.S. Capitol. In 2022, Trump took back his endorsement of Brooks’ Senate bid after the lawmaker said the 2020 election could not be overturned. Brooks said the following year that Trump had asked him to help discredit Biden’s 2020 victory.
Brooks is now also criticizing Trump for his tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada — not for imposing them, but for flip-floppingon hisplans — and told Coates: “Yes, tariffs. No, tariffs. Yes, tariffs. No, tariffs. … That kind of uncertainty causes people to freeze up and that’s hurting our economy.”
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In a recent opinion piece, however, Brooks appeared most stunned by last month’s blowout.
“The Media Debacle involving President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the worst I’ve seen emanating from America’s White House,” he wrote in a piece published Saturday on AL.com. “Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is its only winner.”