Oddly enough, this also coincides with the time when the US military was more explicitly about offence rather than defense. After the Revolution, people mistrusted the federal government having a large standing army. The army was raised up in time of war, and everyone went home when it was over.
Post-WW2 was the first time the US kept a large army in "peace". Been that way ever since.
Where are the Republicans that still hate Russia? They've been very quiet for the last decade. Wherever they are, I see no reason Trump would care about them.
Giving funding back to Ukraine is concrete action.
Your first paragraph can be true while also having a recent falling out.