I think Trump has gotten away with it all this time because the country didn't make the connection between funding to the Northern Triad and kids separated from parents at the southern border, etc. Americans don't concern themselves with policies that work, ie: Funding to Northern Triad. If one remembers many of the people interviewed stated they are looking for work. That is because work was no longer available in their own countries any longer. So, there is a level of denial in the country about funding and other countries. It is that denial or lack of information by the electorate that is exploited politically by Trump.
In this "YouTube" video, Mulvaney openly states aid to the Northern Triad was held to get them to change their emigration policy. Withholding these funds is what has caused the migration to the USA southern border. There was no problem there before Trump. Trump had to create a problem at the border for his political rhetoric. Trump's lack of funding to the Northern Triad is directly linked to his politics.
This is Trump. This is the way he has been conducting himself, it just has never been so blatantly obvious to Americans until Trump leveraged Ukraine. That was a bridge too far and the American people know the atrocities against Ukrainians in Crimea and the western border of Ukraine. Selling the Javelins was supposed to occur and to realize the danger the lack of munitions would bring about in Ukraine has been important to Americans. They easily made the connection. Russia has made a horrible reputation for itself since it broke the treaty with Ukraine and once again returned to old world Soviet policies of invasion and death.
At this news conference, Mulvaney states to "get over it." In other words, this is the way they do things. I don't believe he is lying about the White House policy to use "Quid Pro Quo" for their political ambitions. Mulvaney also states the "Quid Pro Quo" with Ukraine was not linked to the Bidens. That is a flat out lie. The ENTIRE transcript is about the Bidens.
I remember making an entry on this blog that Trump had no intention to send the Javelins to Ukraine. The fiscal year was ending and the monies weren't spent. He stated the order was canceled as far as he was concerned because it was too late to provide those monies now. He saw the indictment of the Bidens taking more time than this fiscal year and the funding would simply end because the Biden propaganda wouldn't be coming soon enough. Trump didn't care about Ukraine's national security nor the USA's national security. His policy of "Quid Pro Quo" as set down by his own priorities matter more than any American life or the lives of innocent Ukrainians.
"Quid Pro Quo" is Trump's policy and I guarantee there are other countries involved, too. Trump treated "time with the president" as if an audience with the Pope with most certainly funding tied to it.
