Christie visits Zelenskyy, takes shot at Trump during surprise Ukraine trip

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday to visit President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirm his support of the United States' funding efforts for the country.

The trip marked Christie’s first time to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion last year and made him the second GOP presidential candidate to visit the nation. Former Vice President Mike Pence visited in June.

On the trip Friday, Christie met with Zelenskyy and visited towns affected by the war, including the once-Russian-occupied city of Bucha, a Christie spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO.

Zelenskyy posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Christie on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday.

"And it is very important that Mr. Christie began his visit to Ukraine with a visit to Bucha to see with his own eyes the threat to freedom and to everyone in the world posed by Russian aggression," Zelenskyy said in the tweet. "I thanked all Americans, each and every one, for their vital support."

Christie, in a tweet after the visit, said it was an honor to see firsthand “the heroism Ukrainians have displayed in their fight against Russia."

“America has never moved forward by ignoring the rest of the world. We can’t start now,” Christie said in the tweet.

Christie has been supportive of the United States' alliance with Ukraine, saying last month that the U.S. "should be able to provide [Ukraine] with the hardware they need to be able to fight off an awful Russian invasion."

Other Republican presidential candidates, such as former President Donald Trump, say the United States should slow its financial support. The United States has sent over $75 billion in humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine since the start of the war.

“Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles … to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden Crime Family’s corrupt business dealings,” Trump said at a rally last weekend, according to The Washington Post.

In an interview with The Washington Post while in Ukraine, Christie took a shot at Trump, who pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Christie said he hoped Republican voters will think about which candidates have the bandwidth to address “the really complicated issues that the next president will have to deal with” — including Ukraine — “and who is going to be dealing with trying to keep themselves out of jail.”

But Christie said Zelenskyy was less interested in weighing in on the 2024 race.

“There was no conversation from [Zelenskyy] about the race that I’m in,” Christie said, according to The New York Times. He said Zelenskyy told him, “Whoever the next president is, I need to have that person feel a partnership with Ukraine.”

A New York Times/Siena College poll this week showed Christie falling far behind Trump, who had 54 percent of likely Republican voters surveyed supporting him. Christie had 2 percent of likely voters surveyed supporting him.

“I will tell everyone at home what I saw here,” Christie told the mayor as he left Bucha, according to The Washington Post. “Stay strong.”