海角大神

Moments before with Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the news broke: Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny had died in prison, according to Russian state media.

Chairman McCaul, a 10-term Republican from Texas, has been a big proponent of sending additional military aid to Ukraine, now almost two years into the Russian invasion. Many in his party, including former President Donald Trump, resist more aid to Ukraine. I wondered how Mr. Navalny鈥檚 death might affect the dynamic of that funding battle in Congress.听

Vladimir Putin is 鈥渁 bad actor,鈥� Mr. McCaul said, comparing the Russian autocrat to Hitler. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a sad day. I hope out of [Mr. Navalny鈥檚] death will come something to send a message to the world and to the American people about who Mr. Putin really is.鈥�

In the end, Mr. McCaul predicted, military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan would come through, and he doesn鈥檛 rule out a deal on southern border security: 鈥淲e鈥檙e a great nation, we can do both.鈥�

For fuller coverage of the Monitor Breakfast, please click here.听Our coverage of Mr. Navalny's death can be found here.听

Mr. McCaul also answered a question I had been eager to ask: Would he be willing to serve in a second Trump administration?听

鈥淚鈥檇 consider it. The track record鈥檚 been interesting,鈥� he said, chuckling, an oblique reference to Mr. Trump鈥檚 tumultuous tenure. Never mind that Mr. McCaul is a self-described 鈥淩eagan Republican鈥� (read: internationalist) while Mr. Trump leans 鈥淎merica First.鈥�

After the breakfast ended, a few of us chatted with the chairman informally, including a German reporter who was eager to know: Is all the talk about Taylor Swift possibly helping President Joe Biden win reelection just a 鈥渕edia thing,鈥� or do Republicans really consider her a threat?

Mr. McCaul laughs. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know!鈥� Are his five children fans? 鈥淥h yeah, they love Taylor Swift.鈥�