U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, said it’s “a good thing” President Trump is talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Trump’s overall policy toward Russia is positive.
“I think when you look at President Trump, you have to look at what he does, not what he says,” Grothman said Sunday on “UpFront with Mike Gousha,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.
“Donald Trump shoots from the hip a little bit,” Grothman said. But Trump has sent arms to Ukraine and Georgia, and increased U.S. military spending. Grothman also said the U.S. needs to be talking to Russia about the Middle East.
“I’m not concerned,” Grothman said about the Helsinki summit. “I’m glad he’s there.”
Gousha asked Grothman if Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is a “witch hunt,” as Trump claims.
“I think the investigation has gone on long enough. We haven’t really found anything,” Grothman said.
On the subject of Trump’s tariffs, and the impact they are having in Wisconsin, Grothman said the Trump administration knew “there would be some short-term problems.”
“I believe they thought things would be wrapped up by this time,” Gothman said.
“I’ve made it clear to the Trump administration the concerns I have with how it’s affecting agriculture and manufacturing,” Grothman said.
“We’re beginning to make progress with South Korea, with Australia, with some countries” he said. “I guess we’ll see the way it looks in a month.”
On immigration, Grothman said the country needs immigrants, but they should be “good immigrants.”
Gousha asked him what makes a “good immigrant.”
Grothman said a “good” immigrant is one who will “work hard, not break the law, and kind of think about the role of government the way Americans should think about the role of government.”
Grothman said the country can get more “good” immigrants by cutting off illegal immigration and using visas and other means to bring in people.
Gousha also asked Grothman what he would remember about former Republican state Sen. Mike Ellis, who died Friday.
“He was so valuable because he was genuine,” Grothman said, adding that Ellis was willing to stand up to leadership.
“He looked out for the average guy,” Grothman said.
In another segment, Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator, addressed election security ahead of the August primary and the November general election.
Wolfe said the commission is focused on training local election officials to detect anomalies and “help us secure elections in every corner of the state.”
She said the commission wants to bring on more people to increase monitoring and help automate those processes. She also said the commission is looking at expanding post-election audits.
“Every single ballot that is cast here in Wisconsin has a paper trail,” Wolfe said.
See more from the show:
http://www.wisn.com/upfront
