Trump told NATO ally: Pay more or Russia can ‘do whatever the hell they want’
LA TimesRepublican front-runner Donald Trump said Saturday that, as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent,” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and long-standing international alliances. Biden White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, saying: “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged — and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.” Trump’s comments come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s two-year-old invasion and as Republicans in Congress have become increasingly cool to providing additional aid to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapons shortfalls. Earlier Saturday, Trump called for the end of foreign aid “without ‘strings’ attached,” arguing that the U.S. should dramatically curtail the way it provides money. But he wrote that, “if the country we are helping ever turns against us, or strikes it rich sometime in the future, the loan will be paid off and the money returned to the United States.” During his 2016 campaign, Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that the United States, under his leadership, might abandon its NATO treaty commitments and only come to the defense of countries that meet the alliance’s guidelines by committing 2% of their gross domestic products to military spending.