Trump: Military Support for Ukraine Will Reduce When I’m President Again
The USA will only stay in NATO if its European allies pay their bills
In his first interview since being re-elected US president, Donald Trump (pictured) told NBC television channel what he intends to do during the four years of his new mandate. The bulk of the interview, which lasted more than an hour, focused on domestic policy, from “pardoning many people convicted of attacking the US Congress on January 6, 2021” to taxes and new safety net programs for American families.
Trump also spoke about his foreign policy intentions. He had the most relevant things to say about the war in Ukraine, endorsing the need for an “immediate ceasefire” and the start of negotiations. The US president-elect also emphasized that “Ukraine should expect less US military support when he returns to the presidency.”
On Friday, December 6, Trump visited France to mark the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral after a fire. Immediately after arriving in the French capital, Trump met privately with President Emmanuel Macron, as well as with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said on social media after the meeting that “the three of them talked about a just peace in his country’s war against Russia.”
However, Trump’s spokesman wanted to point out that “Zelensky was only allowed into the meeting at the end and participated in the talks for less than the last 10 minutes.”
Trump was then asked if he intends to make sure the United States stays in NATO, a defensive military alliance involving 32 Western countries: he initially said yes, if European countries “pay their bills on time.” But then he also said he was willing to change his mind if “things turn different from that standpoint.”
Trump has always taken critical positions on NATO and has always cited the economic problems and grossly inadequate financial contributions of North Atlantic alliance member countries.
