If Trump wins, will the U.S. become isolationist?

In 1940, as Hitler’s troops rolled across Europe, a growing chorus of Republicans argued against sending American weapons to Britain.

The United States, they said, would be wasting resources sending help to London and instead Washington should put “America First.”

Now, former President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress use the same slogan to make similar arguments against sending military aid to another democratic country in Europe under assault by a powerful authoritarian regime.

“The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to. How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago?” more than two dozen Republican lawmakers wrote in a letter this month, declaring their opposition to additional U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Not since the years before America entered World War II, when Ohio Sen. Robert Taft and others warned against giving a “blank check” to Britain, has isolationist sentiment gained so much traction in the U.S.

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ended the debate about U.S. neutrality. More than 80 years later, the outcome of the deadlock in Congress over an aid package to Ukraine and this November’s election could decide whether America continues to play a leadership role in the world, or pulls back from its alliances and pursues a go-it-alone agenda.

As Ukraine marks two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Trump’s supporters in Congress continue to block a proposal to send more help to Ukraine, despite repeated pleas from Kyiv that its soldiers are dying because of shortages of ammunition. Some Republicans that had favored sending more help to Kyiv have shifted their stance, including even Sen. Lindsey