From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Trump: US aid to Israel, Ukraine should be loaned, in case ‘they drop us like a dog’
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At a rally in South Carolina, former US president Donald Trump calls for military aid to Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere to be structured as a loan, with Washington able to demand repayment in case of insufficient support.
“They want to give $100 billion to a few countries,” he says, celebrating the defeat of a bill that would have funded military aid for Israel and Ukraine as well as stiffer border restrictions.
“Give them the money, and if they can pay it back, they pay it back. If they can’t pay it back they don’t have to pay it back … but if they go to another nation, they drop us like a dog,” he says. “If that happens to our country, then very simply we call [in] the loan and we say we want our money, because we give money and then they go to the other side.”
Trump does not mention Israel, but does seem concerned that Ukraine could be given money “and then make a deal with Russia.”
He does mention Israel after promising to “stop that war [in Ukraine], stop other wars from happening.”
The Senate bill includes aid mainly for Ukraine, with some for Israel and Taiwan thrown in, as well as tougher immigration rules on the US-Mexico border inserted to entice GOP support. The bill now appears dead in the water after Republicans rejected it Wednesday, largely under Trump’s urging.
“We crushed crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous open borders bill,” Trump declares. “The whole group did a great job in Congress. We crushed it.”
AFP contributed.
The Times of Israel Community.