Former US President Donald Trump did not consider it appropriate to continue funding Ukraine and was against the provision of a $61 billion aid package to the country. But the speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, convinced the former president that the approval of the aforesaid US assistance to Kyiv would enable him to unify the Republican Party, according to American journalist Bob Woodward's book entitled War, which was released Tuesday.

The journalist noted that amid debates at the House of Representatives on the bill on the allocation of another aid package to Ukraine, which was approved in April, Trump declared that the US assistance to Ukraine is a waste of US taxpayers' money because Ukraine is corrupt, and Russia's victory in the war is inevitable.

The former US president does not see the point of funding Ukraine, Mike Johnson said in a narrow circle, after many conversations with Trump, Woodward noted.

But Johnson managed to convince Trump to support the bill, referring to the need to preserve the unity of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, he added.

Trump saw benefit for himself and removed his veto, Woodward wrote in his book.