– Why should we pay? – The daily newspaper

In February, Donald Trump stated that he will not defend NATO allies if they have not “paid the bill” should they be attacked by Russia – if Trump is again president of the United States after the November 5 election. The ex-president even stated that Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin can do “whatever the hell they want” to countries that do not pay enough in the alliance.

The statements created strong reactions among experts and heads of state around the world. Incumbent President Joe Biden called the move “unacceptable” in his address to Congress in the United States.

But in a recent interview with Time, Trump repeats the message, and assures that the move in February was not misinterpreted.

– If you don’t pay, you’re on your own, he tells the magazine.

Asking Europe to put more money on the table for Ukraine

Trump has long demanded that European NATO countries raise the percentage limit of GDP to be spent on defence. It is currently at 2 percent. Experts and politicians have speculated that Ukraine support from the US could dry up if Trump wins the election, and the former president comments on that claim as follows:

– I don’t give anything unless Europe contributes more. Why should we pay? Europe is affected much more than us. We have an ocean between us (and the war). They don’t have that, says Trump.

Recently, the former president wrote the following on his own platform Truth Social:

– Why can’t Europe contribute as much as the USA to provide the help the country so desperately needs? Everyone agrees that Ukrainian strength and survival should be more important to Europe than to us. But it is also important for us, hammered the former president and ended the post with EUROPE, PICK UP THE SPEED!

The EU has responded to Trump’s criticism. EU Council President Charles Michel recently asked Trump to look into the facts and check the numbers, according to NTB.

– Let’s get the numbers on the table. And they show that the EU’s contribution to Ukraine is 143 billion euros, Michel wrote on X.

Also read: Trump’s ex-advisor to Dagsavisen: This is what he is like behind the scenes (+)

Expert: – Donald Trump is telling us something here

Russia and Ukraine expert Fiona Hill, who herself was an adviser under Donald Trump during his presidency in 2016-2020, has previously commented on what probably lies behind Trump’s actions.

– Donald Trump is telling us something here, and we have seen a number of examples of that before. In the past, he has admittedly not said outright that Russia can do what they want, but he has constantly claimed that the European NATO countries have “scammed” the USA by not spending enough money on defence, Hill told Dagsavisen in February.

When Donald Trump was president, he was constantly thinking about how much money Germany spent, how much Japan spent, how much South Korea spent, and so on. So it is not just America’s allies in NATO that are at stake, she said.

– Trump has a very business-like view of the world. In a way, he sees parts of Europe as a condominium – and himself as the landlord there. “If you don’t pay, you don’t get protection.” That is exactly the way he thinks, according to Fiona Hill, who has had a cool relationship with the ex-president after his time as an adviser ended.

Also read: Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. in a war of words: – Get out of your bunker

Also read: General on Putin’s war: – Russia lacks what it takes

Also read: Putin has had enough. Now he is building a “railway” in Ukraine

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Facts about Donald Trump

• Donald John Trump (77), born on 14 June 1946 in Queens in New York.
• Married to Melania Trump. Five children from three marriages.
• Studied economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Started in the company of his father, real estate magnate Fred Trump. Established his own real estate business and eventually took over his father’s as well. Bought up airlines and casinos, and eventually became very rich.
• His companies had to be refinanced after financial problems in the early 1990s.
• Expressed in 1987 an interest in entering politics. In 1999, he tried to be nominated as a presidential candidate for the Reform Party, but withdrew. He considered running for president in 2004 and 2012.
• In 2015, he threw himself into the Republican nomination battle. To the surprise of many, he won the election in November 2016.
• Took office on January 20, 2017 as the 45th President of the United States. Lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, and has since claimed that the election was “stolen” from him.
• Seeking re-election as the Republican candidate.

(Source: NTB)

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