Trump-aligned 'America First' holdouts don't follow GOP in backing Ukraine

They are a distinct minority in their own party and, for that matter, their country: Republican holdouts amid an ever-widening consensus that Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine poses a mortal threat to American interests.

A far right wing of the Republican Party tightly bound to former President Donald Trump is fighting to push the GOP toward the “America First” isolationism that underpinned his 2016 presidential bid.

For the first time since Trump’s rise, his party is pushing back.

That much was clear from the House vote Thursday on a bill ending normal trade relations with Russia as punishment for attacking Ukraine. A total of 202 Republicans joined with 222 Democrats in voting to allow the Biden administration to raise tariffs on Russia, a rare bipartisan consensus in an era of fierce polarization.