NBC News on December 9 published an exclusive interview with President-elect Donald Trump, in which the leader presented his upcoming foreign policy.
US President-elect Donald Trump
When interviewer Kristen Welker asked if the US would reduce aid to Ukraine after he took office, Mr. Trump replied “maybe.” He said the US has provided $350 billion in aid while Europe only contributed $100 billion and should contribute proportionately.
Previously, Mr. Trump said he would end the conflict within 24 hours, even before he took office. However, this time, he only said “will try to stop it if possible”.
The president-elect also repeatedly avoided answering when asked if he had been in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since being elected. “I don’t want to talk about it because I don’t want to do anything that would hinder the negotiations,” Mr. Trump declared.
According to Mr. Trump, the conflict in Ukraine should not have happened, similar to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, and President Joe Biden should have prevented it. He estimated Russia lost 500,000 soldiers while Ukraine lost 400,000 soldiers, more than Kyiv announced. The President of Ukraine recently admitted that Ukraine lost 43,000 soldiers.
President-elect Trump pledged that the US would still be a NATO member under his administration “if they (European allies) agree to pay their bill”. He accused Europe of benefiting from the US on trade while the US has to protect them. He said it was thanks to his tough attitude that European allies began contributing up to $640 billion.
“War with Russia is more important to Europe than to us… If they treat us fairly, the answer is I will absolutely stay in NATO,” Mr. Trump affirmed.
NATO countries have committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on defense spending to ensure the alliance’s combat readiness. However, only a few countries, including the United States, meet this criterion and Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to leave NATO if other countries do not contribute enough.
Mr. Trump supports Israel’s continued fight against Hamas?
Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Mr. Trump said that there are not too many American hostages left alive. He confirmed that he would put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in the Gaza Strip, but first “there must be a victory”, suggesting support for Israel’s campaign to attack Hamas.
“Everyone has forgotten about October 7, 2023 (the day Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people). It was like the Holocaust (Nazi Germany’s genocide of the Jews). There are those who deny the Holocaust and now there are also people There are people who deny October 7. But no, it really happened and I saw the pictures of what happened. It was terrible,” Mr. Trump said.
Regarding the Taiwan issue, Mr. Trump affirmed that he had never committed to defending this territory if China launched a military campaign to unify the island during his time in office.
Mr. Trump said he has a very good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and has been in contact since being elected. “I have a very good relationship and I hope he won’t do that,” Mr. Trump said.
In the interview, Mr. Trump also raised his opinion about the US federal appeals court last week upholding the validity of the law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to divest capital from social network TikTok before 2025 or TikTok will be banned. in America.
The leader said he would find ways to protect TikTok so that other companies do not become a monopoly. Mr. Trump said he used TikTok very successfully during the election campaign, winning the support of young people with a 30% gap compared to his opponent. According to NBC News’ verification, although Mr. Trump has won the most support from people under 30 years old among Republican presidential candidates since 2008, among voters aged 18-29 years old, Democratic candidates President Kamala Harris has 54% support and Mr. Trump has only 43%.
“I use TikTok so I can’t completely hate it. It’s very effective. But I will say this, if you do that (ban TikTok), something else will come along and take that spot and maybe that’s not fair. They have the right to ban it if they can prove that Chinese companies own it,” Mr. Trump said.
During his first term, Mr. Trump tried to ban TikTok for national security reasons but was unsuccessful. However, he changed his opinion and joined this social network during his re-election campaign.
