Republican senators led by Sen. Cory Gardner sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to remember that Vladimir Putin is no friend of the U.S. | Getty Trump's GOP foreign policy critics grow louder

Donald Trump’s circle of GOP foreign policy critics is quickly expanding.

The president has long been able to count on Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to rebuke his overtures to Russia. And to a lesser extent, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have sounded disapproving notes.


But on Thursday, seven more Republicans spoke out — the clearest evidence yet Trump struck a major nerve with members of his own party when he recently put Vladimir Putin on equal moral footing with the United States.

Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado sent a letter to Trump urging him to take a harder line on Russia, which drew signatures from Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Todd Young of Indiana, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Susan Collins of Maine, as well as Graham and Portman.

The latest missive suggests Republicans are increasingly willing to stand up to Trump on foreign policy, an arena where the president holds many views that are at odds with longstanding GOP orthodoxy.

“While we should seek common ground with Russia in the areas of mutual interest, we must never pursue cooperation with Russia at the expense of our fundamental interests of defending our allies and promoting our values,” the senators wrote. "President Putin must know that the United States remains a beacon of hope and democracy around the world, and will stand up for what is right."

The senators also urged Trump not to lift sanctions on Russia unless it ends its aggression in Ukraine and relinquishes control of Crimea.

The letter came the same day the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Russia in which witnesses described Putin’s ambitions in dark terms, saying he was redrawing European borders, sowing divisions within NATO and the European Union and undermining democratic institutions around the world.

Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) pointed out there was wide agreement in Congress about the need to punish Russia for its aggressive behavior — but he made no mention of Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin on Twitter and has said he wants to build a better relationship with Russia.

After the hearing, Corker said he was reaching out to administration officials to urge them to take a hard line on Russia, adding, “At some point I do plan to deal with it legislatively, too.”

Other Republicans on the committee warned against attempts by the administration to ease up on Russia, with Rubio specifically blasting any consideration by Trump of a deal to provide concessions to Putin in exchange for cooperation in the war against the Islamic State.

“We're going to try to cut a deal with a guy who thinks he's winning, has no internal pressure, and wants us to give up everything in exchange for him doing what he claims to be doing anyway?” Rubio said. “Maybe I'm a little harsh, but I think that's a really stupid deal.”

Trump set off a wave of GOP criticism when he appeared to draw a moral equivalency between the United States and Russia during an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that aired on Sunday.

“He's a killer," O'Reilly said of Putin.

"There are a lot of killers,” Trump said. “You think our country's so innocent?"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) responded on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Putin was a “thug.”

“The Russians annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine and messed around in our elections,” McConnell said. “No, I don’t think there’s any equivalency between the way the Russians conduct themselves and the way the United States does.”

One big question is whether McConnell will take any action — such as allowing floor votes on bipartisan bills related to sanctions imposed on the country by President Barack Obama.

Graham on Wednesday introduced bipartisan legislation to give Congress 120 days to weigh in on any attempt to roll back sanctions.

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, is pushing a measure to codify existing sanctions and impose new sanctions in response to Russia’s meddling in November’s presidential election.

Cardin's bill has 11 co-sponsors, including Republicans Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), McCain, Graham, Rubio, Portman and Gardner.

“I think most senators, if you ask them, have the same and similar concerns and the same beliefs when it comes to Russia,” Gardner said in an interview Thursday. “We don't lift Russia sanctions until Russian behavior changes.”