Former Vice President Mike Pence is trying to maintain influence within the Republican Party by openly censuring Donald Trump, though this strategy may not reverberate with Trump’s core MAGA sympathizers.

During a CNN interview, anchor Kate Bolduan asked Pence about Trump’s recent station on Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pence expressed support for Trump’s tougher posture toward Putin.

He suggested that Democratic “ isolationists ” had lately lost influence over Trump, especially after opposing U.S. conduct against Iran’s nuclear installations.

The discussion shifted to reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had broke U.S. munitions shipments to Ukraine without informing the chairman. Trump himself told CNN he was ignorant of who halted the shipments.

Pence conceded that in a large government, opinions are frequently made at multiple situations, but he described this particular situation as disquieting and likely concerning to Trump as well.

He said he anticipated Trump to probe who initiated the pause but emphasized that the more important development was the decision to renew aid to Ukraine.

Pence also prompted uninterrupted support for Ukraine, including both protective and obnoxious military backing, arguing that similar aid is necessary to achieve lasting peace.

Independently, Pence has blamed Trump for commentary made in Saudi Arabia that questioned past U.S. interventions in the Middle East, calling those reflections discourteous to American service members and reaffirming his intention to remain a “ formative force ” within the conservative movement.