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Former President Trump does not appear to be a man ready to abandon Ukraine, as some fear. Last week, he instead called on Europe to match the amount of aid the United States sends to counter Russian aggression.
“If I tell them to pay, they will pay,” he said. “We have to equalize it.”
The comments came as Trump’s allies balked at a proposal to send more military supplies to Kiev in exchange for policy changes at the U.S. southern border, and at the same time European leaders Americans are increasingly concerned about what a second term for Trump could mean for the country’s future. Ukraine and NATO.
“Ukraine is an interesting case,” President Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas. “People always want to know how I feel.”
“First of all, we will suffer a loss of more than $200 billion, and European countries will suffer a loss of $20 billion. It is more important for them,” he continued. “And don’t you think they should be equal?”
“But believe it or not, European economies combined are about the same size as the United States. Many people are surprised,” Trump said. He added the analogy to fulfilling defense spending obligations. “If you add them all up, they’re going to lose about $20 billion, and we’re going to lose $200 billion because we’re stupid. All we have to do is All you have to do is say, “Pay!”
Trump’s calculations may be wrong. The European Union on Thursday pledged a $54 billion aid package to Ukraine, while the United States has already sent more than $79 billion in humanitarian and military aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Still, the numbers infuriate conservatives, particularly Trump’s allies who advocate an “America First” approach to foreign policy. “Ukraine is not 51st”cent ” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told CBS News last year in explaining her opposition to more aid. The former president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., summed up the skepticism on the right when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “The ungrateful international welfare queen”
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley supports continuing significant military aid to Ukraine. President Trump called the former U.N. ambassador a “warmonger” and declined to elaborate. President Biden said last month that “there’s a lot of agreement between Moscow and Mar-a-Lago,” and Trump’s embarrassment was a sign of being too friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. I was trying to express that.
However, when it comes to how the ground war in Eastern Europe will affect American politics, there is no clear-cut picture of dovs versus hawks. President Trump has regularly warned of the possibility of “World War III” and promised to negotiate a peace deal, while leaving the door open to continued aid to Ukraine.
“President Trump has long advocated for European allies to pay their fair share in all foreign affairs, and has long said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if reelected,” the campaign said. said spokeswoman Caroline Levitt. , directed RealClearPolitics to previous statements on this issue.
Last May, Trump declined to back Ukraine on the Russia issue during a CNN town hall meeting, instead telling voters “I want everyone to stop dying” and vowing to strike a deal to end the war. received criticism. What has received less attention were the conditions placed on aid to Ukraine that were spelled out in his response to a Fox News survey two months ago.
After President Trump called on European allies to “retroactively” repay aid already provided to the United States, Ukraine said: should be said “Unless Russia continues the war, there will be little money left for us.”
However, President Putin certainly meets the prerequisites. Despite the heavy casualties, Russia’s resolve does not seem to be weakening under the current circumstances, and ahead of the presidential election, in which Putin’s victory is almost certain, President Putin has vowed to increase pressure on Ukraine in the coming months.
Asked about the slowdown in aid under President Trump’s second term, Kirillo Budanov, director of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate, told CNN he was “not too worried.” He added that despite Trump’s skepticism about foreign aid, the former president is “a man with a lot of experience.” He fell down many times and got back up again. And this is a very serious trait. ”
“I strongly believe that if President Trump were elected president, he would not abandon Ukraine,” said James Carafano, a fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, who is skeptical of foreign aid to Ukraine.
“The first step he would take would be to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with his European allies,” added Carafano, who advised Trump on the transition. And to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, to help them retain their freedom, to protect our interests, we will do the wise and responsible thing we have to do, and everyone will take this issue seriously. need to be taken seriously. So will the US. ”
A former White House official familiar with Trump’s thinking told RCP that he expects Trump to immediately follow through on his promise to reach out to Putin and Zelensky if elected. The official said he expected that if Russia rejected the peace deal, Trump would “give President Zelensky everything he needs to complete the operation, and this administration has not done that.” .
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