Former President Donald Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, urging Europe and NATO to start paying their fair share to Ukraine. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Trump called for the conflict to be settled within 24 hours.
During the press conference, a reporter asked if Trump encouraged Congress to continue providing aid to Ukraine, to which the former president responded by saying that Europe and NATO should start spending money.
He pointed out that the US has contributed $140 billion, while Europe has only contributed $15 billion, saying “It’s the old story. Whether it’s trade with Europe or anything of the other things we do. NATO, look I got them to put up over $400 billion dollars because when I got there Europe wasn’t paying for NATO…and I got them to put up $447 billion dollars in a very short period of time. They wouldn’t have the money to be fighting Russia right now if it wasn’t for me.”
Trump emphasized that the foreign conflict affects Europe and NATO more than the United States, and that the US funding makes the country look “stupid.”
He urged Germany and other countries to pay their share and criticized the US for taking on the whole burden. “Let’s not be called a ‘stupid country’ and that’s what they call us because we’re defending that whole situation and it affects Europe more than us. Germany is not paying its share, other countries are not paying its share and the United States is really taking the whole load and it’s not right.”
In conclusion, Trump suggested that within 10 minutes, Europe and NATO would agree to pay their fair share if the right things were said to them.
