Highlights:
2007: Trump Stated That Forces Should Be Immediately Withdrawn From Iraq. According to BuzzFeed, “Those comments echoed similar remarks in March 2007 when he said forces should be immediately withdrawn from Iraq. ‘You know how they get out? They get out,’ Trump said to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. ‘That's how they get out. Declare victory and leave, because I'll tell you, this country is just going to get further bogged down. They're in a civil war over there, Wolf. There's nothing that we're going to be able to do with a civil war. They are in a major civil war.’” [BuzzFeed, 8/11/16]
2008: Trump Stated He Was In Favor Of An Immediate Troop Withdrawal From Iraq. According to BuzzFeed, “But lost in Trump's immediate comments is that, for years, he pushed passionately and forcefully for the same immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq. In interview after interview in the later 2000s, Trump said American forces should be removed from Iraq. ‘First, I'd get out of Iraq right now,’ Trump said to British GQ in a 2008 interview. ‘And by the way, I am the greatest hawk who ever lived, a far greater hawk even than Bush. I am the most militant military human being who ever lived. I'd rebuild our military arsenal, and make sure we had the finest weapons in the world. Because countries such as Russia have no respect for us, they laugh at us. Look at what happened in Georgia, a place we were supposed to be protecting.’ Later, Trump said he wished Arizona Sen. John McCain, whom he was backing in the election, had supported pulling troops out of Iraq faster. ‘I wish he would promise to get us out of Iraq faster,’ said Trump. ‘I am not in love with that aspect of what he represents.’” [BuzzFeed, 8/11/16]
2013: Trump: “I Agree With Pres. Obama On Afghanistan. We Should Have A Speedy Withdrawal. Why Should We Keep Wasting Our Money -- Rebuild The U.S.!” According to Trump’s Twitter, “I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan. We should have a speedy withdrawal. Why should we keep wasting our money -- rebuild the U.S.!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 1/14/13]
Before Becoming A Presidential Candidate, Trump Frequently Urged The U.S. To Leave The War In Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, “President Trump is expected to announce a limited troop increase as a part of his new strategy in Afghanistan. And as many were quick to point out, that's a big flip-flop for a man who for years called for withdrawal from that war.” [Washington Post, 8/21/17]
2019: In A Cabinet Meeting, Trump Stated That He Was Elected Because He Promised To Get U.S. Troops Home. According to a transcript of President Trump’s remarks made during a cabinet meeting, “Well, they’re going to be sent initially to different parts, get prepared, and then ultimately we’re bringing them home. Yeah. We’re bringing our troops back home. I got elected on bringing our soldiers back home. Now, it’s not very popular within the Beltway, because, you know, Lockheed doesn’t like it, and these great military companies don’t like it. It’s not very popular. Outside the Beltway — my largest cheer in Dallas — I had 25,000 people — close — in that arena. A record crowd. I had so many people outside of the arena. Thousands. My largest cheer that night was two things: We’re building the wall; that’s number one.And number two, and probably tied for number one, was we’re bringing our soldiers back home.” [Transcript of President Trump’s Cabinet Meeting Remarks, 10/21/19]
The Current Total Of Troops Deployed Abroad Is Approximately 194,000 – Roughly Equivalent To The Number Trump Inherited From The Obama Administration. According to Foreign Affairs, “The clearest measure of Trump’s retrenchment efforts, or lack thereof, is foreign troop deployments. In the final months of Obama’s presidency, approximately 198,000 active duty U.S. military personnel were deployed overseas, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center. By comparison, the most recent figure for the Trump administration is 174,000 active duty troops. But even that difference reflects an accounting trick. Beginning in December 2017, the Defense Department started excluding troops deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria from its official reports, citing a vague need to “protect our forces.” When the estimated troop levels for those three countries are added back in, the current total is around 194,000—roughly equivalent to the number Trump inherited.” [Foreign Affairs, 12/3/19]
Trump Failed To Withdraw The Roughly 12,500 Troops In Afghanistan After Increasing Deployments By 50 Percent. According to Foreign Affairs, “The main reason Trump has failed to reduce overseas troop levels is that every time he announces a drawdown he reverses himself. Consider Afghanistan. Prior to his election, Trump repeatedly called the war in Afghanistan a “terrible mistake” and declared that it was “time to come home!” But once in office, Trump increased the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by around 50 percent. The Pentagon has since withdrawn some troops, but roughly 12,500 troops remain in Afghanistan, up from about 8,500 when Trump took office.” [Foreign Affairs, 12/3/19]
Trump Failed To Withdraw All U.S. Troops From Syria. According to Foreign Affairs, “But after military officials and members of Congress pushed back and several administration officials resigned, Trump shifted gears and agreed to keep about half of the roughly 2,000 troops deployed to northern Syria in place. In October, the president announced that he would withdraw the remaining 1,000 troops, paving the way for a Turkish invasion of northern Syria and an assault on the United States’ Kurdish allies. But once again, Pentagon officials prevailed on the president to leave close to 90 percent of the troops behind to guard nearby oil fields. The remainder will be redeployed in the region instead of coming home.” [Foreign Affairs, 12/3/19]
Trump Failed To Withdraw The 6,000 Troops Remaining In Iraq. According to the New York Times, “With ISIS fighters closing on Erbil, President Barack Obama started his campaign against the terrorist group, which would come to be known as Operation Inherent Resolve. The small contingent of ground troops, helping hunt terrorist targets and advise the morale-stricken Iraqi Army, grew to around 5,000 in 2016. That number has only increased, to roughly 6,000, as American troops move from northern Syria to western Iraq.” [New York Times, 10/21/20]
Trump Failed To Withdraw The 45,000 to 65,000 American Troops In The Persian Gulf At Any Given Time. According to the New York Times, “But, at any given time, between 45,000 and 65,000 American troops are in the region, spread out between Jordan and Oman, assigned to operate airfields, run key headquarters, sail warships and fly warplanes, and stage for deployments to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers change substantially depending on the presence of an aircraft carrier strike group or two in the region, and whether a large group of Marines is afloat in those waters.” [New York Times, 10/21/20]
Trump Authorized The Deployment Of More Troops To Saudi Arabia Following Iranian Attacks On The Kingdom’s Oil Infrastructure, Bringing The Total To 3,000 In The Country. According to Politico, “The Pentagon is sending a fresh wave of troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom against Iran, despite President Donald Trump’s repeated pledges to end the U.S. military's commitments in the Middle East […] The latest deployment, which includes two squadrons of fighter jets and three air-defense units, will bring to 3,000 the number of troops the U.S. has sent to Saudi Arabia since Iran attacked the kingdom’s oil infrastructure last month. ‘The evidence recovered so far proves that Iran is responsible for these attacks,’ Esper said, noting that Germany, France and the United Kingdom have reached the same conclusion.” [Politico, 10/11/19]
May – October 2019: The Pentagon Deployed 14,000 Troops To The Middle East. According to Politico, “Along with other deployments over the spring and summer ‘in response to Iranian provocations,’ the new wave of units will push the total number of U.S. troops the Pentagon has added to the Middle East since May to 14,000, Esper noted.” [Politico, 10/11/19]
September 2020: Directed A Further Draw Down To 4,500. According to the White House, “Over his last 11 months in office, President Trump ordered a series of drawdowns of U.S. troops. By June 2020, President Trump reduced U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 8,600. In September 2020, he directed a further draw down to 4,500. A month later, President Trump tweeted, to the surprise of military advisors, that the remaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be ‘home by Christmas!’” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
October 2020: Trump Claimed That The Remaining U.S. Troops In Afghanistan Should Be “Home By Christmas.” According to the White House, “Over his last 11 months in office, President Trump ordered a series of drawdowns of U.S. troops. By June 2020, President Trump reduced U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 8,600. In September 2020, he directed a further draw down to 4,500. A month later, President Trump tweeted, to the surprise of military advisors, that the remaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be ‘home by Christmas!’” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
September 2021: Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Milley Said That He Had Received An Unclassified Signed Order Directing The U.S. Military To Withdraw All Forces From Afghanistan No Later Than January 15, 2021. According to the White House, “On September 28, 2021, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley testified that, on November 11, he had received an unclassified signed order directing the U.S. military to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan no later than January 15, 2021. One week later, that order was rescinded and replaced with one to draw down to 2,500 troops by the same date. During the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, the 2 outgoing Administration provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
September 2021: Trump’s Previous Full Withdrawal Order Was Rescinded And Replaced With One To Draw Down To 2,500 Troops By January 15, 2021. According to the White House, “On September 28, 2021, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley testified that, on November 11, he had received an unclassified signed order directing the U.S. military to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan no later than January 15, 2021. One week later, that order was rescinded and replaced with one to draw down to 2,500 troops by the same date. During the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, the 2 outgoing Administration provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
Trump’s Orders Were Implemented Despite Being Cautioned Against A Hasty Troop Withdrawal. According to the Associated Press, “Although senior military officials had cautioned against speedy troop reductions in Afghanistan, Miller announced on Nov. 17 that he was implementing Trump’s order. As a result, military commanders scrambled to pull more than 1,500 troops out of the country in the last few weeks. At Trump’s order, commanders also cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq to 2,500 from about 3,000 in the same period. Miller confirmed Friday that the Iraq drawdown had been completed.” [Associated Press, 1/15/21]
The Main Reason For Concern About A Hasty Troop Withdrawal Were Continued High Levels Of Taliban Violence Against The Afghan Government. According to the Associated Press, “The main reason for concern about a too-quick troop withdrawal is what the Pentagon sees as continued high levels of Taliban violence against the Afghan government. Some U.S. officials have questioned the wisdom of fully withdrawing, in accordance with the February 2020 agreement with the Taliban, if violence remains high.” [Associated Press, 1/15/21]
The Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Decision Was Seen By Some As Unnecessarily Complicating The Decision-Making Of The Incoming Administration. According to the Associated Press, “The Afghanistan decision was seen by some as unnecessarily complicating the decision-making of the incoming administration. Trump at the time had refused to acknowledge that he had lost the election and would be ceding to Biden on Jan. 20. Some in Congress, including fellow Republicans, opposed Trump’s decision.” [Associated Press, 1/15/21]
Trump Ordered Direct Talks With The Taliban Without Consulting With U.S. Allies And Partners Or Allowing The Afghan Government At The Negotiating Table. According to the White House, “President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor. When President Trump took office in 2017, there were more than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. Eighteen months later, after introducing more than 3,000 additional troops just to maintain the stalemate, President Trump ordered direct talks with the Taliban without consulting with our allies and partners or allowing the Afghan government at the negotiating table. ” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
Trump’s Administration Negotiated With The Taliban To Withdraw All U.S. Forces From Afghanistan By May 2021. According to the White House, “In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban reached a deal, known as the Doha Agreement, under which the United States agreed to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the Taliban agreed to participate in a peace process and refrain from attacking U.S. troops and threatening Afghanistan’s major cities—but only as long as the United States remained committed to withdraw by the agreement’s deadline.” [White House, accessed 10/5/23]
The Biden Administration Said Trump’s Agreement With The Taliban Boxed The U.S. Into Leaving Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, “Since the U.S. withdrawal, Biden has blamed the February 2020 agreement Trump reached with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, saying it boxed the U.S. into leaving the country. The agreement gave the Taliban significant legitimacy and has been blamed by analysts for undercutting the U.S.-backed government, which would collapse so quickly a year later.” [Associated Press, 4/6/23]
Multiple Sources Reported That Trump Canceled A Visit To The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery Because It Was “Filled With Losers.” According to the Atlantic, “When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that ‘the helicopter couldn’t fly’ and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
Trump Expressed Contempt For Late Senator John McCain’s Service Record, Stating That “He’s Not A War Hero” Because He Was Held As A Prisoner Of The North Vietnamese. According to the Atlantic, “Trump’s understanding of concepts such as patriotism, service, and sacrifice has interested me since he expressed contempt for the war record of the late Senator John McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. ‘He’s not a war hero,’ Trump said in 2015 while running for the Republican nomination for president. ‘I like people who weren’t captured.’” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
Three Sources Claimed That Trump Told His Senior Staff That He Would Not Go To McCain’s Funeral, Stating That “We’re Not Going To Support That Loser’s Funeral.” According to the Atlantic, “Trump remained fixated on McCain, one of the few prominent Republicans to continue criticizing him after he won the nomination. When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, ‘We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,’ and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. ‘What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,’ the president told aides. Trump was not invited to McCain’s funeral.” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
Kelly Claimed Trump Referred To POWs As “Suckers” Because “There Is Nothing In It For Them.” According to CNN, “John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN. […] ‘What can I add that has not already been said?’ Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. ‘A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.’” [CNN, 10/2/23]
Retired Four-Star General: Trump “Can’t Fathom The Idea Of Doing Something For Someone Other Than Himself.” According to the Atlantic, “‘He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself,’ one of Kelly’s friends, a retired four-star general, told me. ‘He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.’ Kelly’s friend went on to say, ‘Trump can’t imagine anyone else’s pain. That’s why he would say this to the father of a fallen marine on Memorial Day in the cemetery where he’s buried.’” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
Some General Officers Noted That Trump Seemed To Believe That The Military Is Beholden Only To Him. According to the Atlantic, “I’ve asked numerous general officers over the past year for their analysis of Trump’s seeming contempt for military service. They offer a number of explanations. Some of his cynicism is rooted in frustration, they say. Trump, unlike previous presidents, tends to believe that the military, like other departments of the federal government, is beholden only to him, and not the Constitution.” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
Trump Maintained A Track Record Of Fondness For Authoritarian Leaders And Their Governing Methods. According to Vox, “You’d think that this kind of major shift in China, one of the world’s largest countries and the one most capable of challenging America for global leadership, would be a serious concern for the White House. But Trump has a long track record of fondness for authoritarians […] Trump seems to have a genuine, somewhat instinctive disregard for civil liberties and democratic norms — and admires ‘strong’ leaders, like Xi and Erdogan, who simply cast them aside. He doesn’t like constraints on his own authority and wishes he could act like those who don’t have them. Trump ‘has what you might think of as autocratic tendencies, which were probably perfectly normal in the business world but are very problematic in the political world,’ Sheri Berman, a professor at Barnard College, told me last year. ‘What he would like to do is eliminate all sources of opposition to him — indeed, even sources of criticism of him — and he’s willing to do pretty much anything to do that.’” [Vox, 2/27/18]
November 2019: Trump: “Dictators, It’s OK. Come On In. Whatever’s Good For The United States.” According to Vox, “President Trump on Tuesday said he’s willing to meet with any foreign leader, including dictators, if doing so would be useful for the United States. ‘When I meet with the leaders of countries as they come in — kings, and queens and prime ministers, and presidents and dictators — I meet them all,’ Trump said in a speech at the New York Economic Club. ‘Anybody wants to come in,’ he added. ‘Dictators, it’s OK. Come on in. Whatever’s good for the United States. We want to help our people.” [Vox, 10/18/19]
Trump Defied The Nation’s Intelligence Agencies When He Declared His “Unswerving Loyalty To Saudi Arabia” Asserting That Mohammed Bin Salman’s Culpability For The Killing Of Jamal Khashoggi May Never Be Known. According to the New York Times, “President Trump defied the nation’s intelligence agencies and a growing body of evidence on Tuesday to declare his unswerving loyalty to Saudi Arabia, asserting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s culpability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi might never be known. In a remarkable statement that appeared calculated to end the debate over the American response to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, the president said, ‘It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!’ ‘We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,’ Mr. Trump added. ‘In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.’” [New York Times, 11/20/18]
Trump’s Support For MBS Drew Outrage From Members Of Congress And Human Rights Activists. According to the New York Times, “They also drew outrage from members of Congress and human rights activists, for whom the grisly killing has become a test of America’s willingness to overlook the crimes of a strategically valuable ally. Even Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill expressed revulsion. ‘The behavior of the crown prince — in multiple ways — has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic,’ Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in a statement.” [New York Times, 11/20/18]
An Intelligence Report Released By The Biden Administration Stated The Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Of Saudi Arabia Approved The Assassination Of Jamal Khashoggi. According to the New York Times, “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia approved the assassination of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to an intelligence report that the Biden administration released on Friday that offered the world a reminder of the brutal killing. An elite team of operatives helped carry out the killing, the report said. The team reported directly to Prince Mohammed, who cultivated a climate of fear that made it unlikely for aides to act without his consent, according to the report.” [New York Times, 2/26/21]
April 2024: Trump Spoke With Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman For The First Time Since Leaving Office
April 2024: Trump Spoke With Saudi Prince And De Facto Ruler Mohammed bin Salman For The First Publicly Disclosed Time Since Trump Left Office. According to the New York Times, “Former President Donald J. Trump spoke recently with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, their first publicly disclosed conversation since Mr. Trump left office in January 2021, according to two people briefed on the discussion who were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It was unclear what the two men discussed and whether it was their only conversation since Mr. Trump’s departure from the White House. Neither representatives for Mr. Trump nor an official of the Saudi government responded to requests for comment. But news of their discussion comes at a time when the Biden administration is engaged in delicate negotiations with the Saudis aimed at establishing a lasting peace in the Middle East, building on diplomatic ties between Israel and a number of Arab states forged through the work of the Trump administration.” [New York Times, 4/3/24]
At A Press Conference Alongside The Prime Minister Of Japan, Trump Claimed That Kim Jong Un “Is A Very Smart Man.” According to remarks made by President Trump during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Japan, “Well, first of all, let me say that I think that Kim Jong Un, or Chairman Kim, as some people say, is looking to create a nation that has great strength economically. I think he’s very much — I talk to him a lot about it, and he’s very much into the fact that — he believes, like I do, that North Korea has tremendous economic potential like perhaps few other developing nations anywhere in the world. And I think that he is looking to develop that way. He knows that, with nuclear, that’s never going to happen. Only bad can happen. He understands that. He is a very smart man. He gets it well.” [President Trump’s Remarks About North Korea, 5/27/19]
Trump Said He “Fell In Love” With North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un. According to the Independent, “President Donald Trump told a cheering crowd at a campaign rally that there was once tough talk “back and forth” between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ‘and then we fell in love.’ Mr Trump said at the Saturday night rally in West Virginia: ‘He wrote me beautiful letters and they're great letters. We fell in love.’ He joked about criticism he would get from the news media for making a comment some would consider ‘unpresidential’ and for being so positive about the North Korean leader.” [Independent, 9/30/18]
January 2016: Trump Stated That North Korean Dictator Deserved “Credit” For Taking Out His Political Rivals. According to the Hill, “Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump says North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong-un deserves ‘credit’ for the cutthroat efficiency with which he disposes of his political foes. ‘If you look at North Korea, this guy, he’s like a maniac, OK?’ Trump said at a rally in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Saturday. ‘And you’ve got to give him credit: How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals and all of a sudden, you know, it’s pretty amazing when you think of it. How does he do that?’ he added […] But he also insinuated that Kim had some admirable qualities. ‘I mean, it’s amazing that a young guy would go over and take over,’ Trump said Thursday on Fox News’ ‘On the Record.’ ‘You know, you would have thought that these tough generals would have said no way this is gonna happen when the father died. So he’s gotta have something going for him, because he kept control, which is amazing for a young person to do,’ he added.” [The Hill, 1/9/16]
Trump Accepted Vladimir Putin’s Denial Regarding Russian Interference In The 2016 Election, Contradicting The American Intelligence Community. According to NPR, “Given the attitude with which President Trump has greeted all news of the Russian interference in the 2016 election, his performance in Helsinki on Monday should have come as no surprise. And yet there was surprise — even shock — when the president of the United States stood onstage alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and accepted the former KGB officer's denials regarding that interference. Trump was asked directly which one he believed: his own intelligence community or Putin. In so many words, Trump gave the answer: Putin.” [NPR, 7/17/18]
Trump Tweeted That His Relationship With Putin ‘Bothered Many Of The Haters.’ According to Twitter, “So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!” [Twitter, 7/18/18]
Trump: Getting Along With Putin Was A Good Thing. According to Twitter, “Had a long and very good conversation with President Putin of Russia. As I have always said, long before the Witch Hunt started, getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing… We discussed Trade, Venezuela, Ukraine, North Korea, Nuclear Arms Control and even the ‘Russian Hoax.’ Very productive talk!” [Twitter, 5/3/19]
Trump Said It Was “Genius” Putin Declared A Portion Of Ukraine Independent. According to CNN, “Over and over again this week – as Russia massed forces along Ukraine’s borders and then invaded on Wednesday night – the former US President found time to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday, in an interview with conservative radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Trump repeatedly praised Putin for his strategy on Ukraine. ‘I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent,’ Trump said. ‘Oh, that’s wonderful.’” [CNN, 2/24/22]
Trump Called Putin “Pretty Smart”
Trump Said Putin Was “Pretty Smart” For Trying To Take Over Ukraine. According to CNN, “Then on Wednesday night, Trump sounded a very similar note while speaking during a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. ‘They say, ‘Trump said Putin’s smart.’ I mean, he’s taking over a country for two dollars’ worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart. He’s taking over a country — really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people, and just walking right in,’ Trump told the crowd, according to a recording of the event.” [CNN, 2/24/22]
Trump Failed To Condemn President Xi’s Constitutional Amendment To Eliminate Term Limits For The Presidency. According to Vox, “Over the weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping essentially declared his intention to stay in power for life. He began the process of amending China’s constitution to eliminate term limits for the presidency. This move, which seems very likely to succeed due to Xi’s influence among the Chinese leadership class, will upend a political system that depended on regular and orderly transfers of power between members of the ruling Communist Party. In effect, Xi’s new policy changes China from a one-party authoritarian country to one-man rule […] As such, you’d expect the United States — whose president has long claimed the mantle of “leader of the free world” — to condemn it. President Donald Trump basically did the polar opposite. During a Monday afternoon meeting with US governors, he said he had ‘great respect’ for Xi, adding that he had a ‘very good relationship’ with the Chinese leader. When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the term limit issue specifically, she seemed to imply that America was fine with Xi’s power grab. ‘I believe that’s a decision for China to make about what’s best for their country,’ she told reporters.” [Vox, 2/27/18]
Trump Told Donors That China’s President Xi Jinping Was Now “President For Life,” And That “It’s Great.” According to the New York Times, “The comment was made behind closed doors, and appeared to be in jest: President Trump told donors on Saturday that China’s president, Xi Jinping, was now ‘president for life,’ and added: ‘I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll want to give that a shot someday.’ The remarks, confirmed by a leading Republican lobbyist who attended the luncheon at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, were first aired by CNN, which obtained an audio recording of his comments.” [New York Times, 3/4/18]
Trump: President Erdogan Is “A Tough Cookie” But “I Get Along With Him.” According to Remarks made by Trump at a press conference in Osaka, Japan, “Okay, so Turkey is an interesting case — because there’s another one, Jim, that I get along with very well, and he’s a tough cookie, okay? Right? President Erdogan. He’s tough, but I get along with him. And maybe that’s a bad thing, but I think it’s a really good thing.” [Remarks – President Trump In Osaka, Japan, 6/29/20]
Trump: Erdogan Was “Getting Very High Marks.” According to Remarks made by Trump alongside President Erdogan In New York, “It’s a great honor and privilege — because he’s become a friend of mine — to introduce President Erdoğan of Turkey. He’s running a very difficult part of the world. He’s involved very, very strongly and, frankly, he’s getting very high marks. And he’s also been working with the United States. We have a great friendship as countries. I think we’re, right now, as close as we have ever been. And a lot of that has to do with the personal relationship. So, President, thank you very much. It’s a great honor to have you in the United States.” [Remarks – President Trump in New York, 9/21/17]
During A Session With Americans Who Had Been Held Hostage By Foreign Governments, Including Turkey, Trump Stated That Erdogan “Was Very Good” To Him. According to the Daily Beast, “During a question-and-answer session with Americans who had once been held captive by foreign governments, President Donald Trump on Monday night told a pastor who had been held in Turkey that while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may have kept him in bondage for nearly two years, the strongman ‘was very good’ to Trump himself. ‘To me, President Erdoğan was very good,’ Trump said in a prerecorded video shot in the White House, after Pastor Andrew Brunson described the conditions he was held in for more than 21 months for the alleged crime of ‘Christianization’ in the majority Muslim country. Erdoğan is one of many authoritarian leaders for whom the president has expressed an affinity.” [Daily Beast, 8/24/20]
Trump Praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban In Mar-a-Lago Meeting. According to Bloomberg, “Former US President Donald Trump praised Viktor Orban as a ‘fantastic leader’ while poking fun at criticism of the Hungarian prime minister’s self-proclaimed illiberal tendencies as the two populist leaders met Friday at Mar-a-Lago. Orban ‘is a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘this is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it,’ Trump joked to a room full of attendees at his Florida resort, according to video of the event posted by Orban on Instagram. ‘Right? He’s the boss. No - he’s a great leader, fantastic leader.’” [Bloomberg, 3/9/24]
During The 2016 Campaign, Trump Praised Saddam Hussein As Good At Killing Terrorists. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Trump’s soft spot for authoritarians dates at least to his presidential campaign, when he praised Saddam Hussein for being ‘good’ at killing terrorists and suggested that the world would be better off were Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the deposed Libyan dictator who was killed in a violent uprising in 2011, ‘in charge right now.’ Mr. Trump then suggested the ouster of both men was ultimately worse for the Middle East because the Islamic State had filled the void.” [New York Times, 1/27/20]
During The 2016 Campaign, Trump Suggested That The World Would Be Better Off With Qaddafi Still In Charge. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Trump’s soft spot for authoritarians dates at least to his presidential campaign, when he praised Saddam Hussein for being ‘good’ at killing terrorists and suggested that the world would be better off were Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the deposed Libyan dictator who was killed in a violent uprising in 2011, ‘in charge right now.’ Mr. Trump then suggested the ouster of both men was ultimately worse for the Middle East because the Islamic State had filled the void.” [New York Times, 1/27/20]
2024: Trump Said He Would Not Protect Countries That Did Not Meet NATO’s Defense Spending Target From Russia. According to the New York Times, “He went on to repeat a story that he told in February to the shock of world leaders, claiming that as president he had warned his NATO counterparts that he would not defend them if they did not increase their own military spending. ‘Would you protect us?’ Mr. Trump quoted another leader whose country did not meet the spending target as saying. ‘I said, ‘No, I will not protect you from Russia.’’” [New York Times, 7/11/24]
2024: Trump Considered Scaling Back The U.S. Commitment To NATO, Not Ensuring Article 5 Protections For Countries That Fail To Meet Defense Spending Goals. According to Bloomberg, “Donald Trump is considering scaled-back commitments to some NATO members and a push for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to power next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Among possible moves in a second term, Trump allies have discussed essentially a two-tiered NATO alliance, where Article 5 — which requires common defense of any member under attack — would apply only to nations that hit defense-spending goals, according to the people, who asked not to be identified and cautioned no policy decisions have been finalized. Others are advocating new tariffs on laggard countries, they said.” [Bloomberg, 2/14/24]
Trump National Security Advisor Keith Kellogg Said That NATO Should Remove Article 5 Protections For Any Member Not Spending 2% Of Their GDP On Defense. According to Reuters, “A leading national security adviser to Donald Trump told Reuters on Tuesday that he would push for changes to NATO if the former president returns to power that could result in some member nations losing protection against an outside attack. Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general and onetime chief of staff of the former president's National Security Council, said in an interview that if a member of the 31-country alliance failed to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product, opens new tab on defense, as agreed, he would support removing that nation's Article 5 states that an attack against one member of the Europe-based alliance will be considered an attack against all, and members of the alliance must respond appropriately. Without those protections, a member country would not be guaranteed other NATO members would come to its aid. ‘Where I come from, alliances matter,’ said Kellogg, who also served as former Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser. ‘But if you're going to be part of an alliance, contribute to the alliance, be part of the alliance.’” [Reuters, 2/13/24]
Trump’s Threats To Weaken America’s Commitment To NATO Were Not New, But Being Taken Seriously By European Allies. According to the Washington Post, “Trump’s provocation, delivered brashly to a cheering crowd of thousands in Conway, S.C., was largely consistent with the position he’s voiced on NATO since at least the 1980s. He followed up with several social media posts demanding that allies should ‘PAY UP’ and suggesting that he is dangling U.S. withdrawal to pressure them to boost their own military spending. ‘THEY WILL DO THAT IF PROPERLY ASKED,’ Trump wrote last Monday. ‘IF NOT, AMERICA FIRST!’ Trump’s threats to leave NATO rattled European officials and others when he was last in office, but at the time, White House aides always privately assured allies that the president would not follow through, according to a European ambassador to Washington. Now, ambassadors and diplomats, closely monitoring U.S. public opinion with unease and bracing for Trump’s possible return, are trying to divine how Trump could reshape the alliance if reelected. They have been working to identify Trump’s key influencers and interlocutors, fearing that instead of people like Pompeo and Bolton, he would in a second term appoint even more sycophantic Cabinet officials who would not restrain him.” [Washington Post, 2/19/24]
Trump Threatened To Pull Out Of NATO If Members Did Not Meet His Demands, Stating That The U.S. Could Go Their “Own Way.” According to Politico, “Donald Trump unleashed havoc at NATO on Thursday, threatening to pull out if America's allies don't boost military spending then praising the alliance as a ‘fine-tuned machine.’ The president disoriented NATO leaders for the entire two-day meeting, with a whiplash performance that included chiding Germany and delivering what one official called a ‘prolonged rant’ on spending. It fits into his defined pattern of creating chaos at major summits, such as his blow-up at a G7 summit in Quebec […] On Thursday, he arrived late— and apparently furious — at the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top political decision-making body, and hijacked a meeting that was already in progress with the presidents of Ukraine and Georgia. Taking the floor, he warned of ‘grave consequences’ if allies do not quickly ramp up their spending, and threatened that the U.S. could ‘go our own way’ if they do not meet his demands.” [Politico, 7/12/18]
Trump Refused To Reaffirm The U.S. Commitment To NATO’s Article 5 Provision Stating The Collective Self Defense Of Member States. According to the Center for American Progress, “The NATO summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday, May 25, was expected to be uneventful. More a meet and greet than a summit, the day was designed to showcase the alliance and provide a forum for the new American president to end any doubt about his commitment to NATO—and to affirm finally his commitment to the alliance’s foundational Article 5 provision. But after much buildup, President Trump never mentioned the U.S. commitment to Article 5, leaving our NATO allies stunned. Trump’s omission was not just a flub by a novice, uninformed, and ill-prepared president who has made a nonstop string of bizarre decisions since taking office.” [Center for American Progress, 6/1/17]
June 2018: Trump Insulted Fellow NATO Members Stating That They Are “Delinquent” And “Owe Us A Tremendous Amount Of Money.” According to NBC News, “At the top of his remarks this morning with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said, ‘Many [NATO] countries are not paying what they should. And, frankly, many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money for many years back, where they're delinquent, as far as I'm concerned, because the United States has had to pay for them.’” [NBC News, 7/11/18]
VIDEO: Trump: “NATO’s Obsolete. We Could Change It, Rejigger It, Or Frankly If We Had To, Get Rid Of It.” According to WROK’s Newstalk, “TRUMP: We need to bring back our money. We need to stop paying so much money to NATO and worry about our forces because we’re taking care of all these countries that are getting in many cases a free ride. And I’m the only one that brought it up. I brought up NATO. It’s a free ride for so many of these countries. It’s a disgusting free ride. And frankly NATO’s obsolete. We could change it, rejigger it, or frankly if we had to, get rid of it because we’re paying billions and billions of dollars to protect countries that frankly do nothing for us, and they do nothing in terms of payment.” [WROK’s Newstalk, 3/29/16]
Trump Stood By His Comment Saying Russia “Could Do Whatever The Hell They Want” To A NATO Country He Believed Had Not Spent Enough On Defense. According to Time, “That’s one reason America’s traditional allies were horrified when Trump recently said at a campaign rally that Russia could ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to a NATO country he believes doesn’t spend enough on collective defense. That wasn’t idle bluster, Trump tells me. ‘If you’re not going to pay, then you’re on your own,’ he says. Trump has long said the alliance is ripping the U.S. off. Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg credited Trump’s first-term threat to pull out of the alliance with spurring other members to add more than $100 billion to their defense budgets.” [Time, 4/30/24]
Trump Said He Would Not Support Ukraine “Unless Europe Starts Equalizing” Despite The Fact That Europe Has Spent Over $100 Billion On Ukrainian Aid. According to Time, “But an insecure NATO is as likely to accrue to Russia’s benefit as it is to America’s. President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine looks to many in Europe and the U.S. like a test of his broader vision to reconstruct the Soviet empire. Under Biden and a bipartisan Congress, the U.S. has sent more than $100 billion to Ukraine to defend itself. It’s unlikely Trump would extend the same support to Kyiv. After Orban visited Mar-a-Lago in March, he said Trump “wouldn’t give a penny” to Ukraine. ‘I wouldn’t give unless Europe starts equalizing,’ Trump hedges in our interview. ‘If Europe is not going to pay, why should we pay? They’re much more greatly affected. We have an ocean in between us. They don’t.’ (E.U. nations have given more than $100 billion in aid to Ukraine as well.)” [Time, 4/30/24]
Trump Planned To Impose A 10% Minimum Tariff On Goods Coming From The European Union. According to Bloomberg, “Donald Trump is targeting the European Union for a potential slew of punitive trade measures designed to address long-standing grievances should he retake office, according to people familiar with his team’s nascent economic-platform discussions. The two sides are still at odds over tariff increases Trump imposed in his first term as president on steel and aluminum, which were partly suspended in 2021 after President Joe Biden took office. If Trump wins in November, the EU undoubtedly will be one of his chief targets on trade, according to conversations with several Trump advisers. A likely starting point in a second Trump administration would be the EU’s inclusion in a broad minimum 10% tariff, which would also be applied to China, his allies said. He might also assemble counter-measures against European digital services taxes that implicitly go after US technology champions, using Section 301 of the US trade law, the allies added.” [Bloomberg, 2/7/24]
Trump Threatened To “Release” Thousands Of ISIS Fighters Into Germany And France If Europe Did Not Take Them Back And Put Them On Trial. According to Government Executive, “With a bizarre threat to ‘release’ terrorists into France and Germany, President Trump is pressing America’s European allies to bring home and put on trial their citizens captured while fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Publicly elevating an issue that has bedeviled senior officials at the Pentagon and the State Department for months, Trump said he would order the transport of some 2,000 captured fighters back to their home countries if ‘Europe doesn’t take them’—something that would almost certainly be legally impossible. ‘We're holding thousands of ISIS fighters right now. And Europe has to take them. And if Europe doesn't take them, I'll have no choice but to release them into the countries from which they came. Which is Germany and France and other places,’ the president told reporters on Wednesday.” [Government Executive, 8/22/19]
Trump Criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, Calling His Comments About NATO “Very Very Nasty.” According to Politico, “Trump started the day with a sharp broadside against French President Emmanuel Macron, made as he was sitting next to the NATO leader, Jens Stoltenberg. Specifically, Trump admonished the French president for his recent description of NATO as experiencing ‘brain death.’ ‘It’s a tough statement when you make a statement like that. It’s a very, very nasty statement to essentially 28 countries,’ Trump said before launching into a broader attack on Macron and France, while standing up for NATO. ‘France is not doing well economically at all. They’re starting to tax other people’s products,’ Trump added. ‘They’ve had a very rough year and you just can’t go around making statements like that about NATO. It’s very disrespectful.’” [Politico, 12/3/19]
Trump Threatened To Tariff $2.4 Billion Worth Of French Imports Including Cheese And Wine. According to the Associated Press, “The Trump administration is proposing tariffs on up to $2.4 billion worth of French imports — including Roquefort cheese, handbags, lipstick and sparkling wine — in retaliation for France’s tax on American tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative charged Monday that France’s new digital services tax discriminates against U.S. companies. The trade office will accept public comments on the tariffs, which could hit 100%, through Jan. 6 and hold a hearing Jan. 7.” [Associated Press, 12/2/19]
Trump Imposed 25% Tariffs On Steel And 10% Tariffs On Aluminum On Mexico And Canada, Key U.S. Trading Partners. According to the Washington Post, “President Trump on Thursday imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, triggering immediate retaliation from U.S. allies and protests from American businesses and farmers. The tariffs — 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum — take effect at midnight Thursday, marking a major escalation of the trade war between the United States and its top trading partners […] ‘It’s more than highly unusual. It’s unprecedented to have gone after so many U.S. allies and trading partners, alienating them and forcing them to retaliate,’ said economist Douglas Irwin, author of a history of U.S. trade policy since 1763. ‘It’s hard to see how the U.S. is going to come out well from this whole exercise.’” [Washington Post, 5/31/18]
Trump Called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “Meek And Mild” Over The Two Countries’ Trade Relationship. According to the New York Times, “The ink had barely dried on the communiqué after the G-7 summit meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, when President Trump berated Mr. Trudeau on Twitter from Air Force One, accusing him of being ‘very dishonest and weak’ and of making up ‘false statements.’ ‘Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!’ Mr. Trump wrote.” [New York Times, 6/10/18]
Kudlow Said That There Was “A Special Place In Hell For Any Foreign Leader That Engages In Bad-Faith Diplomacy” With President Trump. According to Politico, “National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said Sunday that Trudeau “really kind of stabbed us in the back" when the Canadian leader told reporters Saturday that his country would stick to its plan to apply retaliatory tariffs to certain U.S. exports beginning next month. ‘There's a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,’ White House adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday on Fox News. ‘And that's what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference.’” [Politico, 6/10/18]
Canada Said It Planned To Slap Retaliatory Tariffs On $2.7 Billion Worth Of U.S. Goods. According to CNBC, “Canada said Friday it will slap retaliatory tariffs on $2.7 billion worth of U.S. goods, the latest development in a new trade feud sparked by President Donald Trump’s decision to reimpose aluminum duties on the U.S. ally. ‘Canada will respond swiftly and strongly,’ Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a news conference. ‘We will impose dollar-for-dollar countermeasures in a balanced and perfectly reciprocal retaliation,’ she said. ‘We will not escalate and we will not back down.’” [CNBC, 8/7/20]
Trump Tweeted That Mexico “Is An Abuser” Of The United States. According to the Hill, “Trump has threatened America’s southern neighbor with tariffs over its alleged inaction in working to stem the flow of undocumented migrants in the U.S. ‘People have been saying for years that we should talk to Mexico. The problem is that Mexico is an “abuser” of the United States, taking but never giving. It has been this way for decades,’ Trump tweeted in June. ‘Either they stop the invasion of our Country by Drug Dealers, Cartels, Human Traffickers Coyotes and Illegal Immigrants, which they can do very easily, or our many companies and jobs that have been foolishly allowed to move South of the Border, will be brought back into the United States through taxation (Tariffs).’” [The Hill, 8/24/19]
Trump Demanded That South Korea Pay 400% More In 2020 To Cover The Cost Of Keeping U.S. Troops On The Peninsula. According to CNN, “Trump is demanding that South Korea pay roughly 400% more in 2020 to cover the cost of keeping US troops on the peninsula, a congressional aide and an administration official confirmed to CNN. The price hike has frustrated Pentagon officials and deeply concerned Republican and Democratic lawmakers, according to military officials and congressional aides. It has angered and unnerved Seoul, where leaders are questioning US commitment to their alliance and wondering whether Trump will pull US forces if they don't pay up.” [CNN, 11/14/19]
Congressional Aides Stated That Trump’s Demand For $4.7 Billion “Came Out Of Thin Air” And Sent State And Defense Department Staff Scrambling To Justify The Number. According to CNN, “In the US, congressional aides and Korea experts familiar with the talks say the President’s $4.7 billion demand came out of thin air, sending State and Defense Department officials scrambling to justify the number with a slew of new charges that may include Seoul paying some costs for US personnel present on the peninsula and for troops and equipment that rotate through.” [CNN, 11/14/19]
Officials Worried That South Korea Would Stop Sharing Intelligence With The United States, And As A Result, Trump Would Withdraw U.S. Troops From South Korea. According to an Op-Ed by Richard Armitage And Victor Cha in the Washington Post, “The threat to end the intelligence cooperation not only degrades the ability of the three to respond to North Korean nuclear or missile tests but also represents a potential decoupling of South Korea's security interests from those of Japan and the United States, in a significant sign of alliance erosion […] This week, in another ominous sign of the U.S.-South Korea alliance weakening, the South Korean and Chinese defense ministers on the sidelines of a multilateral gathering in Southeast Asia inked an agreement to increase defense exchanges and establish military hotlines. The collision of all these events could cause Trump to do the unthinkable by withdrawing U.S. troops from South Korea. Doing so would be in keeping with his long-held suspicions about the value of U.S. military commitments to allies, whom he thinks are free riders exploiting the U.S. security umbrella. Trump could use the failed burden-sharing negotiations with Seoul as an excuse to draw down or pull out troops. His list of indictments, beyond accusing South Korea of refusing to pay its fair share, would likely include criticism of South Korea's delinking from the United States and Japan and its leaning toward China.” [Washington Post – Op-Ed - Richard Armitage And Victor Cha, 11/23/19]
The U.S. Warned That It Will Send Furlough Notices To Almost 9,000 South Korean Workers At U.S. Bases If The Two Countries Don’t Reach An Agreement On Trump’s Demand For Seoul To Pay More For American Troops. According to Bloomberg, “The U.S. is warning it will send furlough notices within weeks to almost 9,000 South Korean workers at U.S. bases if the two countries don’t reach agreement on President Donald Trump’s demand for Seoul to increase dramatically what it pays for American troops. Trump’s push for South Korea to contribute much more has put the alliance under strain at a time when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime has said it would no longer be bound by its previous promise to halt testing of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. The two sides remained deadlocked, though U.S. officials have indicated they’ve backed off Trump’s initial demand that President Moon Jae-in’s administration pay about $5 billion a year for U.S. forces stationed there, more than five times the $900 million in a stopgap one-year agreement that expired on Dec. 31.” [Bloomberg, 1/22/20]
Trump Said South Korea Had To Pay More To Support U.S. Troops Or Risk Trump Pulling Out. According to Time, “Trump is less cryptic on current U.S. troop deployments in Asia. If South Korea doesn’t pay more to support U.S. troops there to deter Kim Jong Un’s increasingly belligerent regime to the north, Trump suggests the U.S. could withdraw its forces. ‘We have 40,000 troops that are in a precarious position,’ he tells TIME. (The number is actually 28,500.) ‘Which doesn’t make any sense. Why would we defend somebody? And we’re talking about a very wealthy country.’” [Time, 4/30/24]
A Second Trump Term Could See Countries Required To Put Up Natural Resources Or Other Assets To Receive Foreign Aid. According to NBC News, “Working to salvage an aid package to Ukraine, Republican senators pitched an idea to former President Donald Trump that they thought he’d like: Instead of a grant, the U.S. would give the country a loan that would be backed in some fashion by Ukrainian rare earth minerals worth trillions of dollars. GOP lawmakers knew they needed Trump’s support if they were to ensure the ex-president wouldn’t use his clout in Congress to sink the aid package that Ukraine needed to fend off Russia’s invasion. That specific plan didn’t make it into the final legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law last month. Ukraine received a loan rather than a grant — meeting Trump’s threshold requirement — though there was no mention of the country’s minerals as a potential means of repayment. Still, Trump liked the concept, GOP lawmakers who spoke to him said, and if he wins the election, some envision a new model taking hold in which the U.S. structures foreign aid not as grants, but instead as loans with countries putting up natural resources or other valuable assets as collateral.” [NBC News, 5/3/24]
The Trump Campaign Accused The European Union Of “Trying To Meddle” In The Presidential Election. According to the Associated Press, “In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe. Thierry Breton, a French business executive and commissioner for internal market of the European Union, warned Musk of possible ‘amplification of harmful content’ by broadcasting his interview with Trump. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to ‘ensure X’s compliance’ with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to address a number of issues including disinformation. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung urged the EU to ‘mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election.’” [Associated Press, 8/12/24]
Two Advisors To Trump Presented Him A Plan Where Ukraine Would Only Get More U.S. Aid If It Entered Peace Talks With Russia. According to Reuters, “Two key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine - if he wins the presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more U.S. weapons if it enters into peace talks. The United States would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased U.S. support for Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, one of Trump's national security advisers, said in an interview.” [Reuters, 6/25/24]
The Plan Would Include A Ceasefire Based On Prevailing Battle Lines, Where Ukrainian Territory Under Russian Occupation Would Continue To Be Controlled By Russia. According to Reuters, “Under the plan drawn up by Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, who both served as chiefs of staff in Trump's National Security Council during his 2017-2021 presidency, there would be a ceasefire based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks. They have presented their strategy to Trump, and the former president responded favorably, Fleitz said. ‘I'm not claiming he agreed with it or agreed with every word of it, but we were pleased to get the feedback we did,’ he said.” [Reuters, 6/25/24]
July 27, 2016: Trump Stated That As President He Would Consider Recognizing Crimea As Russian Territory And Lifting Sanctions Against Russia. According To Politico, “Donald Trump said Wednesday that, if he is elected president, he would consider recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and lifting the sanctions against Russia. At a wide-ranging news conference, Trump said he “would be looking into that” when asked about his stance on Crimea and Russia. The Crimean Peninsula has been part of Ukraine for decades, but Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the territory in March 2014 after a popular revolt toppled Kiev's pro-Russian government. The United States, along with the European Union, has refused to recognize the annexation or the referendum legitimizing it and has enforced sanctions on Russian state banks and corporations.” [Politico, 7/27/16]
February 15, 2017: The White House Stated That They Expected Russia To Return The Annexed Territory, Contradicting Trump’s Previous Statements. According to Reuters, “Russia said on Wednesday it would not hand back Crimea to Ukraine or discuss the matter with foreign partners after the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump expected the annexed Black Sea peninsula to be returned […] ‘We don’t give back our own territory. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation,’ Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told a news briefing on Wednesday. The 2014 annexation prompted the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia, plunging Western relations with the Kremlin to their worst level since the Cold War. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that Trump expected and wanted to get along with Russia, but was expecting Moscow to hand Crimea back.” [Reuters, 2/15/17]
Trump Approved The Largest U.S. Commercial Sale Of Lethal Defensive Weapons To Ukraine Since 2014 Amid Escalated Fighting. According to the Washington Post, “The Trump administration has approved the largest U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine since 2014. The move was heavily supported by top Trump national security Cabinet officials and Congress but may complicate President Trump’s stated ambition to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Administration officials confirmed that the State Department this month approved a commercial license authorizing the export of Model M107A1 Sniper Systems, ammunition, and associated parts and accessories to Ukraine, a sale valued at $41.5 million. These weapons address a specific vulnerability of Ukrainian forces fighting a Russian-backed separatist movement in two eastern provinces.” [Washington Post, 12/20/17]
June 2018: During NATO Summit Press Conference, Trump Left Open The Possibility He Would Recognize The Russian Annexation Of Crimea. According to the Associated Press, “Trump was noncommittal when asked if he might lift sanctions imposed on Russia, telling reporters: ‘We’ll see what Russia does. We’re going to be talking to Russia about a lot of things. We’re going to be talking to them about Syria, we’re going to be talking to them about Ukraine. We might even be talking about some of the things President Obama lost, like Crimea, that could come up.’ Asked if the U.S. might recognize Crimea to be part of Russia, he said, ‘We’re to have to see’ and then said the situation was handled ‘unfortunately’ by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.” [Associated Press, 6/30/18]
July 18, 2019: OMB Announced That Trump Was Freezing $391 Million In Security Aid To Ukraine Until Further Notice. According to the New York Times, “In a secure conference call with national security officials, an Office of Management and Budget staff member announces that Mr. Trump was freezing $391 million in security aid to Ukraine until further notice, citing a presidential order to the budget office.” [New York Times, 11/11/19]
Trump’s Own Administration Was Caught Unaware Of His Hold On The Aid. According to CNN, “The new information underscores how the July 18th decision to hold the military aid stunned officials, who had already assessed Ukraine deserved to receive it and were preparing a Javelin missile order as well. The decision reverberated across the government for weeks. Officials grew so concerned over the deferrals by the Office of Management and Budget that they noted the aid was at ‘serious risk,’ and questioned if the move was illegal. In an email to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who was in his first week on the job, a top Defense official communicated his concern over Trump’s ‘reported view that the US should cease providing security assistance’ to Ukraine and its impact on national security.” [CNN, 2/5/20]
January 29, 2020: The Trump Administration Rolled Out New Sanctions Over The Russian Occupation Of Crimea. According to the Hill, “The Trump administration on Wednesday announced new sanctions related to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The Treasury Department designated eight individuals in Ukraine in response to Russian aggression in the region, seven of whom are acting as government officials in Crimea with Russia's backing and without authorization from Ukraine and who were also designated by the European Union on Tuesday.” [Hill, 1/29/20]
January 31, 2020: Secretary Of State Pompeo Stated That The Trump Administration Was Committed To Ukraine In Its Defense Against Russian Aggression. According to the New York Times, “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the Trump administration was committed to supporting Ukraine in its defense against aggression by Russia, which invaded and annexed part of the country and is supporting a separatist insurgency. ‘Today I’m here with a clear message: The United States sees that the Ukrainian struggle for freedom, democracy and prosperity is a valiant one,’ Mr. Pompeo said at a news conference after meeting with Ukraine’s leader in Kyiv. ‘Our commitment to support it will not waver.’ Ukraine is a ‘bulwark between freedom and authoritarianism in Eastern Europe,’ Mr. Pompeo added.” [New York Times, 1/31/20]
After Meeting With Trump In Person, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Said Trump Would “Not Give A Penny” To Ukraine To Defend Themselves Against Russia As President
After Meeting Trump In Florida, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Said Trump “Will Not Give A Penny In The Ukraine-Russia War” If Elected President. According to the BBC, “Donald Trump will not fund Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion if he is elected US president again, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has said. ‘He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war. That is why the war will end,’ the conservative premier said after meeting Mr Trump in Florida. The former US president has pledged to end the war ‘within 24 hours’ if elected - but provided no details. Mr Orban is openly backing his long-term ally in the 2024 White House race. Is Europe doing enough to help Ukraine? ‘It is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet,’ Mr Orban told Hungary's M1 TV channel late on Sunday. ‘If the Americans don't give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then the war is over. And if the Americans don't give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over.’” [BBC, 3/11/24]
August 2020: Trump Signed An Executive Order Giving ByteDance, TikTok’s Parent Company, 90 Days To Divest The U.S. Operations Of TikTok. According to Reuters, “TikTok is preparing to mount a legal challenge as early as Monday to President Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting transactions with the popular short video app and its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 14 that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok. ByteDance has been making progress in talks with potential acquirers, including Microsoft Corp and Oracle. Some of ByteDance's U.S. investors could also join the winning bid.” [Reuters, 8/22/20]
March 2024: Trump Reversed His Position On Forcing Divestment From TikTok Or Banning The App While Still Calling It A National Security Threat
March 2024: Trump Opposed Legislation Moving To Ban TikTok Without Divestment From Its Parent Company, Citing The Potential Benefit To Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. According to Variety, “TikTok, the massively popular video app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, apparently has an ally in Donald Trump. The former U.S. president expressed opposition to a national ban of TikTok not for, say, First Amendment reasons but because such a move would likely boost the fortunes of Meta’s Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Trump, in a post Thursday evening on Truth Social, the social-media service he is affiliated with, called the CEO of Meta ‘Zuckerschmuck,’ using the vulgar Yiddish word for penis. ‘If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!’” [Variety, 3/8/24]
ABC News HEADLINE: “Trump's TikTok Ban Reversal Comes After Meeting Megadonor Who Has Stake In TikTok” [ABC News, 3/11/24]
Trump’s Flip On Forcing TikTok To Divest Or Banning The App Followed A Meeting With Republican Megadonor Jeff Yass. According to ABC News, “As Donald Trump reverses his position on potentially banning TikTok ahead of an expected House vote this week on legislation that could lead to it being blocked in the U.S., the former president has been rebuilding his relationship with a GOP megadonor who reportedly has a major financial stake in the popular social media platform. Trump met with the donor, hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, earlier this month at a Club for Growth donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 1.” [ABC News, 3/11/24]
Yass Had A Significant Stake In TikTok’s Parent Company, ByteDance. According to ABC News, “Yass, who did not respond to a request for comment on Monday, owns a significant stake in in TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance, The Wall Street Journal reported last year. ‘I've supported libertarian and free market principles my entire adult life,’ Yass told the Journal then. ‘TikTok is about free speech and innovation, the epitome of libertarian and free market ideals. The idea of banning TikTok is an anathema to everything I believe.’” [ABC News, 3/11/24]
August 2017: After North Korea Pledged To Move Forward With Development Of Nuclear Weapons, Trump Stated That The Country Would “Be Met With Fire And Fury …The Likes Of Which This World Has Never Seen Before.” According to the Washington Post, “President Trump on Tuesday issued a stern warning to North Korea, saying that if its threats to the United States continue, the outcast nation will be ‘met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.’ Trump comments came as North Korea spurned a new round of sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council and pledged to continue to press forward with development of nuclear weapons that could reach the U.S. mainland. Appearing at an event at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club, where Trump is on a 17-day ‘working vacation,’ he said that ‘North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States.’ ‘They will be met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,’ Trump said, as his administration faces one of its most serious foreign policy challenges of his presidency. Speaking of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said ‘he has been very threatening beyond a normal state.’” [Washington Post, 8/8/17]
September 2017: During An Address To The U.N. General Assembly, Trump Stated That If The U.S. Had To Defend Itself, He Would Have “No Choice But To Totally Destroy North Korea.” According to a transcript of Trump’s remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, “It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict. No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles. The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary. That’s what the United Nations is all about; that’s what the United Nations is for. Let’s see how they do.” [Donald Trump remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, 9/19/17]
April 2018: After Then CIA Director Pompeo Met With Kim Jong Un, Trump Claimed That “A Good Relationship Was Formed.” According to Trump’s Twitter, “Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 4/18/18]
May 2018: Trump Tweeted That He Truly Believed, “North Korea Has Brilliant Potential.” According to Trump’s Twitter, “Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 5/27/18]
Trump’s February 2019 Summit With Kim Jong Un To Discuss The Country’s Denuclearization Was Unsuccessful. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Trump cut short his summit with Kim earlier Thursday, rejecting the North Korean leader’s offer to dismantle a major nuclear complex in exchange for the removal of U.S.-led economic sanctions. Trump said that the U.S. wanted more concessions from Kim and that talks would continue. But the president wouldn’t commit to holding a third summit after two high-profile meetings have failed to produce a concrete agreement on rolling back Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/28/19]
Trump Stated He Did Not Believe Kim Jong Un “Would Have Allowed” Otto Warmbier, An American Student To Be Mistreated In North Korean Custody. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump on Thursday said he trusted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's assurance that he was unaware of the circumstances leading to the 2017 death of Otto Warmbier, the American student imprisoned by North Korea. ‘He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,’ Trump said at a news conference held at the end of a two-day nuclear summit in Hanoi, Vietnam […] Trump said Thursday that he didn't believe Kim — whose regime is accused of a laundry list of human rights violations — would have ordered the mistreatment of Warmbier. ‘What happened is horrible. I really believe something really bad happened to him and I don't think the top leadership knew about it,’ the president told reporters after his second summit with Kim, adding that ‘I did speak about it and I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen — it just wasn’t to his advantage to allow that to happen.’” [Politico, 2/28/19]
December 2019: Trump Downplayed Kim John Un’s Threats Of A “Christmas Present” From North Korea If The United States Did Not Rollback Economic Sanctions. According to NPR, “President Trump did not seem concerned Tuesday when asked about the threat of a ‘Christmas present’ from North Korea if the U.S. doesn't roll back economic sanctions on the country by the end of the year. ‘Maybe it's a nice present,’ Trump told reporters at an event at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. ‘Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase, as opposed to a missile test.’ Pyongyang imposed an end-of-year deadline for concessions from the U.S. earlier this month, but the Trump administration has given no sign that it plans to give in to the pressure campaign. The U.S. wants North Korea to give up its entire nuclear arsenal before removing the sanctions.” [NPR, 12/24/19]
DiMaggio: Trump Entered 2020 With The Same “Incoherent And Inflexible Approach” That Led North Korea To Double Down On Advancing Their Nuclear And Missile Programs. According to Foreign Policy, “Trump’s biggest problem may be that he is entering 2020 without a viable strategy toward either hostile power, said Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ‘The failed maximum pressure campaign against Iran has brought us to the brink of war with Tehran,’ DiMaggio said. ‘A similar incoherent and inflexible approach has led the North Koreans to double down on advancing their nuclear and missile programs…In the current context, it’s not hard to imagine a quick ratcheting up of hostilities with Pyongyang, including once again spiraling toward a military confrontation like we experienced in 2017.’” [Foreign Policy, 1/7/20]
May 8, 2018: Trump Pulled Out From The Iran Nuclear Deal, Which Tightly Restricted The County’s Nuclear Ambitions In Return For Ending Sanctions. According to the New York Times, “President Trump declared on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, isolating the United States from its Western allies and sowing uncertainty before a risky nuclear negotiation with North Korea […] Iran said it will remain in the deal, which tightly restricted its nuclear ambitions for a decade or more in return for ending the sanctions that had crippled its economy.” [New York Times, 5/8/18]
Trump Could Not Provide An Answer When Asked How Pulling Out Of The Iran Nuclear Deal Made America Safer. According to Think Progress, “After publicly signing a memorandum to violate the Iran nuclear deal by reinstating the ‘highest levels’ of U.S. sanctions against the country, President Trump was asked a very basic question by a reporter who was in attendance at the White House for the ceremony. ‘Mr. President, how does this America safer?’ she said. ‘How does this make America safer?’ Trump gathered his thoughts for a moment, then just restated the question in the form of an assertion. ‘This will make America much safer,’ he said, before getting up for the table on which he signed the memorandum. The president’s inability to answer the most basic question about his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement is indicative of why many experts question the wisdom of doing so in the first place. Under the Joint Cooperation Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency could regularly inspect Iran’s nuclear program to make sure that it is for peaceful purposes. By all accounts, that process was working. But now that Trump has pulled the U.S. out, it’s unclear what will come next.” [Think Progress, 5/8/18]
Trump, Motivated By The Death Of An American Contractor, Launched An Attack That Killed Top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. According to CNN, “When the US government killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was first announced, officials from the Pentagon up to President Donald Trump were careful to make clear the strike was meant to head off an imminent attack on Americans. That the strike, which took place last week without congressional approval or debate, should be conducted with the urgency of heading off an imminent threat is actually key to making it legal under US law. But Trump has subsequently made clear -- notably in comments Tuesday from the Oval Office -- that he was also motivated by retribution after the death of an American contractor at an Iraqi military base, possibly caused by Iranian-backed militias, or violent protests at the US Embassy in Baghdad.” [CNN, 1/7/20]
Trump Reportedly Was Positioning The United States To De-Escalate. According to CNN, “Trump appeared to be positioning the US to de-escalate, but offered very little room for Iran to maneuver, essentially sticking to a maximalist approach and demanding that any de-escalation happen on US terms. Reading carefully from teleprompters, Trump announced that his administration would once again slap Iran with more sanctions and demanded that US allies leave the nuclear deal so a new pact can be negotiated.” [CNN, 1/7/20]
Two Iranian Missile Attacks, Seen As Reprisal For The U.S. Killing Of A Prominent Iranian Commander, Resulted In 50 Troops Being Diagnosed With Traumatic Brain Injuries. According to NPR, “The number of U.S. service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after Iranian missile attacks earlier this month has risen to 50 — up from the 34 reported last week. The Pentagon announced the increase Tuesday evening and said 32 of those 50 service members have already received treatment and returned to duty in Iraq. The remaining 18 were sent to Germany for further evaluation […] The uptick in reported injuries comes about three weeks after the Iranian attack, which targeted at least two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. personnel. The attack, itself a reprisal for the U.S. killing of a prominent Iranian commander, destroyed swaths of at least one of those bases — Ain al-Asad air base, northwest of Baghdad. No U.S. or Iraqi service members were killed.” [NPR, 1/29/20]
Pompeo Defended Killing Of Iranian Military Leader But Avoided Answering Questions About The Imminent Attack He Cited As Justification For The Strike. According to Reuters, “Democrats in Congress said it was not clear why the Iranian military leader, long seen as a threat by U.S. authorities, had to be killed now. They said Trump does not have the authority to go to war without congressional approval, and that his actions put the country at greater risk […] Pompeo, Trump’s top diplomat and a trusted adviser, made the administration’s case during multiple television interviews on Sunday, saying there was ‘no skepticism’ among senior U.S. leaders who had access to all the intelligence on Friday’s targeted killing. He deflected questions about the ‘imminent attack’ he had cited on Friday as justification for the strike, and described the threat posed by Soleimani as long-term and wide-ranging. ‘We would have been culpably negligent had we not taken this action,’ Pompeo said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ ‘It’s never one thing. ... It’s never one moment. It’s never one instance,’ he said. ‘It’s a full situational awareness of risk and analysis.’” [Reuters, 1/5/20]
Pompeo: Expected Iranian Retaliation Against Americans Is Just A “Little Noise.” According to New York Magazine, “When host Chuck Todd asked Pompeo if he could ‘confidently say America is safer today,’ he responded ‘absolutely.’ Todd followed up, asking how that perspective could accommodate the administration’s expectation of ‘retaliation on American citizens.’ Pompeo replied by accusing Todd of ‘concentrating on the second and the moment.’ ‘It may be that there is a little noise here in the interim and that the Iranians make the choice to respond,’ Pompeo said. ‘I hope that they don’t. President Trump has made clear what we will do in response if they do, then our response will be decisive and vigorous just as it has been so far.’” [New York Magazine, 1/5/20]
Iran Fired More Than 20 Missiles At The U.S. Targets In Iraq As Retribution For The Soleimani Strike. According to ABC News, “Iran fired multiple missiles into Iraq on Tuesday evening, targeting U.S. military sites in what appeared to be retaliation for the recent American drone strike that killed one of its top generals. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps swiftly took credit, and one Iranian politician tweeted his nation’s flag -- an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump who tweeted the American flag after the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani […] Later, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted, ‘Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.’ ‘We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,’ he added.” [ABC News, 1/7/20]
After The Missile Attacks, Trump Said That “All Is Well.” According to Trump’s Twitter, “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 1/7/20]
Trump Appeared To Brush Off The Traumatic Brain Injuries Sustained By U.S. Service Members After Iran’s Missile Strike On A Base In Iraq Stating That He “Heard That They Had Headaches.” According to ABC News, “President Donald Trump appeared to brush off the traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussion-like injuries sustained by U.S. service members after Iran’s missile strike on a military base in Iraq, saying he did not consider them to be ‘very serious injuries.’ ‘I heard that they had headaches. And a couple of other things,’ Trump said Wednesday at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland. ‘But I would say and I can report it is not very serious.’” [ABC News, 1/22/20]
August 2017: Trump Repeatedly Discussed Invading Venezuela, Even After His Then National Security Advisor McMaster Explained The Potentially Disastrous Consequences. According to the Associated Press, “As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can’t the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country? The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both of whom have since left the administration. This account of the previously undisclosed conversation comes from a senior administration official familiar with what was said. In an exchange that lasted around five minutes, McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship, according to the official […] But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.” [Associated Press, 7/4/18]
September 2017: Trump Discussed Military Options To Remove Maduro From Power On The Sidelines Of The U.N. General Assembly. According to the Associated Press, “Then in September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that included Santos, the same three people said and Politico reported in February. The U.S. official said Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue and told it wouldn’t play well, but the first thing the president said at the dinner was, ‘My staff told me not to say this.’ Trump then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn’t want a military solution, according to the official, who added that each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure. Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him through the dangers of an invasion, the official said.” [Associated Press, 7/4/18]
June 2017: Trump Took Credit For Saudi Arabia’s Move To Isolate Its Neighbor Qatar, Home To Two Major U.S. Military Outposts. According to the New York Times, “President Trump thrust himself into a bitter Persian Gulf dispute on Tuesday, taking credit for Saudi Arabia’s move to isolate its smaller neighbor, Qatar, and rattling his national security staff by upending a critical American strategic relationship. In a series of tweets, Mr. Trump said his call for an end to the financing of radical groups had prompted Saudi Arabia and four other countries to act this week against Qatar, a tiny, energy-rich emirate that is arguably America’s most important military outpost in the Middle East. ‘During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology,’ he wrote in a midmorning post. ‘Leaders pointed to Qatar — look!’ […] But it is also home to two major American command posts, including a $60 million center from which the United States and its allies conduct their air war on Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. [New York Times, 6/6/17]
Trump Claimed That His Complaint About Terror Funding Led To The Qatar Blockade. According to Trump’s Twitter, “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!” [Twitter, @realdonaldtrump, 6/6/17]
Trump’s Statements Of Support Contradicted His Own Military And American Ambassador To Qatar. According to the New York Times, “Pentagon officials said they, too, were taken aback by Mr. Trump’s tweets, particularly given the American military’s deep ties to Qatar. The military has been eager to avoid political quarrels with the Qataris, a goal reflected in statements by its spokesmen. ‘The United States and the coalition are grateful to the Qataris for their longstanding support of our presence and their enduring commitment to regional security,’ Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, spokesman for the Air Force component of the Central Command, said on Monday. Al Udeid Air Base, outside the Qatari capital, Doha, is home to more than 11,000 American and coalition service members. Mr. Mattis made a point of visiting in April, spending three nights in Doha, where he met with the emir. Mr. Trump’s tweets also appeared to contradict the American ambassador to Qatar, Dana Shell Smith, who this week retweeted a post of hers saying Qatar had made ‘real progress’ in curbing financial support for terrorists.” [New York Times, 6/6/17]
Trump Said The U.S. Should Threaten Putin With Sending Nuclear Submarines "Coasting Back And Forth” Russia’s Coast. According to HuffPost, “Former President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the U.S. threaten Russian President Vladimir Putin with American nuclear submarine patrols, which would likely dramatically escalate global tensions amid Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine. ‘You should say: ‘Look, you mention that word one more time and we’re gonna send [submarines] over and we’ll be coasting back and forth, up and down your coast,’’ Trump said in an appearance on Fox Business, continuing a tour of media appearances to downplay his questionable record on Russia and Ukraine.” [HuffPost, 3/21/22]
HuffPost: If Washington Sent Nuclear Submarines Into Russian Waters, Putin Would Likely See That As An Intolerable Provocation. According to HuffPost, “Trump’s suggestion would be dangerous. If Washington sent nuclear submarines into Russian waters, Putin would likely see that as an intolerable provocation. He would almost certainly react with a greater threat or even an attack on U.S. assets, sparking a domino effect that could lead to war between two of the world’s strongest militaries.” [HuffPost, 3/21/22]
January 2020: After The U.S. Killing Of Qassem Soleimani, Trump Stated That He May Order Attacks On Iranian Cultural Sights If Iran Took Military Action Against The United States. According to the Associated Press, “Iran’s ancient and rich cultural landscape has become a potential U.S. military target as Washington and Tehran lob threats and take high-stakes steps toward a possible open conflict. President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday evening that if Iran attacks any American assets to avenge the killing of a top Iranian general, the U.S. has 52 targets across the Islamic Republic that ‘WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.’ Some are “important to Iran & Iranian culture,” Trump wrote on Twitter.” [Associated Press, 1/6/20]
The 1949 Geneva Convention Prohibited “Any Acts Of Hostility Directed Against The Historic Monuments, Works Of Art Or Places Of Worship Which Constitute The Cultural Or Spiritual Heritage Of Peoples.” According to Vox, “The 1949 Geneva Convention prohibits ‘any acts of hostility directed against the historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples;’ the 1954 Hague Convention on the treatment of ‘cultural property’ during wartime contains a nearly identical provision. The United States has long taken these obligations seriously; during ISIS’s rampage, the Obama administration was ‘among the harshest critics’ of its destruction of antiquities, per the New York Times.” [Vox, 1/6/20]
The U.S. War Crimes Statute Holds U.S. Nationals Criminally Liable For Committing War Crimes. According to Human Rights Watch, “The US War Crimes statute holds criminally liable US nationals, including officials and military personnel, who commit war crimes. Under customary laws of war, every combatant has a duty to disobey a manifestly unlawful order.” [Human Rights Watch, 1/5/20]
Following His Announcement That U.S. Troops Would Be Withdrawing From Northeastern Syria, Trump Stated That Soldiers Would Secure The Country’s Oil Fields So That America Could “Keep The Oil.” According to Vox, “Following President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement early last month that nearly all US troops would be withdrawing from northeastern Syria — effectively abandoning America’s Kurdish allies in the region — he reversed course, announcing that US troops would be staying in Syria after all. Only now, their mission was to secure oil fields in other parts of the country. And Trump was clear about who that oil would belong to: ‘We’re keeping the oil — remember that,’ he told a gathering of Chicago police officers in late October. ‘I’ve always said that: ‘Keep the oil.’ We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month? Keep the oil.’” [Vox, 11/7/19]
Trump Stated That The U.S Military “May Have To Fight For The Oil” And Then “Make A Deal With An ExxonMobil.” According to the New Yorker, “In a major policy flip-flop, the President said that he is not only keeping American forces in Syria to ‘secure’ its oil fields, he is willing to go to war over them. ‘We may have to fight for the oil. It’s O.K.,’ he said. ‘Maybe somebody else wants the oil, in which case they have a hell of a fight. But there’s massive amounts of oil.’ The United States, he added, should be able to take some of Syria’s oil. ‘What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly,’ he said. The goal would be to ‘spread out the wealth.’” [New Yorker, 10/30/19]
Any Move To Expropriate A Portion Of Syria’s Oil Was Prohibited By The Geneva Convention, Reinforced By The Precedents Set By The U.N. War Crimes Tribunals, And Risked Criminal Liability Under The U.S. War Crimes Act. According to the New Yorker, “Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. could expropriate a portion of Syria’s oil ‘sounds like the international crime of pillage,’ Ryan Goodman, a former special legal counsel at the Department of Defense who is now at the New York University School of Law, said. Any such move is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions and by the precedents set by the United Nations war-crimes tribunals that the U.S. helped establish in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. ‘U.S. military commanders who engaged in pillaging Syria’s oil would risk criminal liability under the U.S. War Crimes Act,’ Goodman said. The international rules of war, he added, were designed ‘to deter nations from engaging in predatory wars to seize other countries’ natural resources.’” [New Yorker, 10/30/19]
Trump Said, “I Didn’t Know What The Hell NATO Was” Before Becoming President. According to the New York Times, “Just two hours after Mr. Biden finished, Mr. Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Doral, Fla., and denigrated the alliance. He made no mention of its contributions to history, its victory in the Cold War or its role in defending Europe today as the war in Ukraine continues. Indeed, he acknowledged that he had been largely ignorant about the organization until he became president. But he then boasted about how he berated the allies as deadbeats. ‘I didn’t know what the hell NATO was too much before,’ Mr. Trump told cheering supporters. ‘But it didn’t take me long to figure it out, like about two minutes. And the first thing I figured out was they were not paying. We were paying, we were paying almost fully for NATO. And I said that’s unfair.’” [New York Times, 7/11/24]
Trump Falsely Stated That the United States Was Entitled To A “Reimbursement” From NATO Members. According to Think Progress, “While on Air Force One en route to Belgium for a NATO summit, President Trump took to Twitter to attack the alliance, going so far as to suggest he expects member nations that haven’t spent enough on defense to reimburse the United States. ‘Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in payments that have not been made,’ Trump tweeted. ‘Will they reimburse the U.S.?’ […] Not only that, but Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. is entitled to a ‘reimbursement’ is absurd. As the Guardian explains, since each country contributes toward the organization in accordance with their capabilities, NATO members ‘do not ‘owe’ or have to compensate any other country.’” [Think Progress, 7/10/18]
Trump Mistakenly Said Finland Was A NATO Member. According to Think Progress, “President Donald Trump met with Finnish president Sauli Niinistö Monday, ahead of his scheduled summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. According to reporters, Trump thanked the Finnish president for his support and said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has never been stronger. ‘I enjoyed being with you a couple of days ago. NATO has, I think, never been stronger. It was a little bit tough at the beginning, but it turned out to be love. I appreciated your support,’ Trump said in his opening remarks. Finland, however, is not in NATO.” [Think Progress, 7/16/18]
Meeting With Leaders From Baltic Countries, Lithuania, Latvia, And Estonia, Trump Mixed Up “Baltics” And “Balkan.” According to the Guardian, “But Le Monde perhaps risked provoking a presidential tweet on the latter subject when it reported that at the private meeting, ‘Trump opened by attributing to [the Baltic leaders] the responsibility for the war in Yugoslavia.’ Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania, Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia and Raimonds Vējonis of Latvia, the paper said, took ‘a moment to realise that ‘Baltics’ and ‘Balkan’ were getting mixed up in the mind of the American president.’ Trump, Le Monde said, remained ‘apparently uneducated in the matter by his wife, Melania, originally from the former Yugoslavia.’ Melania Trump is from Slovenia, which gained its independence in 1991, at the start of the bloody Balkan conflicts which only ended with the Kosovo war of 1998-99.” [Guardian, 11/10/18]
Several Times During His First Term, Trump Did Not Account For Times Zones And Attempted To Call Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe At Inappropriate Hours. According to Politico, “Several times in the first year of his administration, President Donald Trump wanted to call Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the middle of the afternoon. But there was a problem. Midafternoon in Washington is the middle of the night in Tokyo — when Abe would be fast asleep. Trump’s aides had to explain the issue, which one diplomatic source said came up on ‘a constant basis,’ but it wasn’t easy. ‘He wasn’t great with recognizing that the leader of a country might be 80 or 85 years old and isn’t going to be awake or in the right place at 10:30 or 11 p.m. their time,’ said a former Trump NSC official. ‘When he wants to call someone, he wants to call someone. He’s more impulsive that way. He doesn’t think about what time it is or who it is,’ added a person close to Trump. In the case of Abe and others, Trump’s NSC staffers would advise him, for instance, that ‘the time is messed up, it’s 1 o’clock in the morning’ and promise to put the call on his calendar for a more diplomatically appropriate time. Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster would assure him: ‘We can try to set it up.’” [Politico, 8/13/18]
Trump Mispronounced Nepal As “Nipple” And Jokingly Referred To Bhutan As “Button” In A Briefing Prior To A 2017 Meeting India’s Prime Minister. According to Politico, “Sometimes the foibles have been contained within the White House. In one case, Trump, while studying a briefer’s map of South Asia ahead of a 2017 meeting with India’s prime minister, mispronounced Nepal as ‘nipple’ and laughingly referred to Bhutan as ‘button,’ according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.” [Politico, 2/6/20]
Trump Falsely Stated That Ireland Was Part Of The United Kingdom. According to the Irish Times, “Donald Trump’s incendiary newspaper interview on the eve of his first official visit to the UK, in which he took aim at Theresa May’s Brexit plans and suggested Boris Johnson would make a great prime minister, has been met with outrage by MPs […] In the US, Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle took issue with Mr Trump’s comment that he was popular in Britain despite the protests planned around the country. Mr Trump had said in the interview: ‘I believe that the people in the UK – Scotland, Ireland. they like me a lot.’ Mr Boyle pointed out to the president that ‘Ireland is not part of the UK. It’s been an independent country for about 100 years ... Please stop embarrassing us on the international stage.’” [Irish Times, 7/13/18]
In A 2017 Meeting With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump Falsely Stated That India Did Not Share A Border With China. According to the Washington Examiner, “President Trump’s shaky grasp of geography almost derailed America’s relations with India, according to a new account of his initial meeting with the country’s prime minister. As they met during the president’s first visit to Asia in October 2017, Narendra Modi spelled out his concerns about China’s ambitions in the region, which Trump replied to by saying, ‘It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.’ In their book, A Very Stable Genius, two Washington Post reporters detail how ‘Modi’s eyes bulged out in surprise’ at Trump’s apparent failure to understand that his country did indeed share a border with China, a line that extends some 2,500 miles.” [Washington Examiner, 1/20/20]
Trump Reportedly Said That He Did Not Understand Why The United States Intervened On The Side Of The Allies During WWII. According to the Atlantic, “Belleau Wood is a consequential battle in American history, and the ground on which it was fought is venerated by the Marine Corps. America and its allies stopped the German advance toward Paris there in the spring of 1918. But Trump, on that same trip, asked aides, ‘Who were the good guys in this war?’ He also said that he didn’t understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies.” [Atlantic, 9/3/20]
The Prime Ministers Of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, And Sweden Posted A Photo Mocking Trump’s Riyadh Photo Op. According to the Guardian, “World leaders don’t generally troll each other, but the prime ministers of the five Nordic countries are giving it a shot. They just posted a photograph of themselves clasping a soccer ball - echoing a photo of US President Donald Trump, Saudi King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi holding a glowing orb that went viral last week. That orb was an illuminated globe at the Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, the opening of which the three leaders were attending on 21 May […] And, apparently, it was just as irresistible to Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Juha Sipila, Bjarni Benediktsson, Erna Solberg and Stefan Lofven, the prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden respectively. At a meeting in Bergen, Norway, to discuss cooperation among their countries, the five heads of government came up with their own version of the photo, and stuck it on social media.” [Guardian, 5/31/17]
After Claiming That His Administration Had “Accomplished More Than Almost Any Administration” In His 2018 Address To The U.N., The Audience Audibly Laughed At Trump. According to the Washington Post, “Appearing at the United Nations, Trump recycled a bogus claim he often makes at partisan rallies, in Fox News interviews and in formal settings: that he has accomplished more to this point in his presidency than his predecessors. The problem is this time he said it in front of an audience that might actually question it. ‘In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,’ Trump said. The assembled world leaders gave a bit of an audible response, and Trump was caught off-guard. ‘America’s — so true,’ he said with a smile. The buzz at that point became audible laughter. Trump chuckled and said, ‘Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.’ Then more laughter, accompanied by some applause.” [Washington Post, 9/25/18]
At A Closed-Door Media Ball, Then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Mocked Trump’s Speech Patterns And Vocabulary. According to Foreign Policy, “And now there is leaked audio from Wednesday’s media ball at Parliament House in Canberra, which was meant to be off the record. ‘It was beautiful,’ Turnbull jokes, mocking one of Trump’s favorite words. ‘It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever.’ ‘The Donald and I,’ he goes on, ‘we are winning, and winning in the polls. We are winning so much. We are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls. We are! We are! Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They’re the ones we’re not winning in. We’re winning in the real polls. The online polls. They are so easy to win.’ ‘I have this Russian guy,’ he added. ‘Believe me, it is true. It is true.’” [Foreign Policy, 6/15/17]
World Leaders At A NATO Summit In London Were Caught On Video Appearing To Share A Laugh Over Trump Comments, Calling Them “Jaw Dropping.” According to Al Jazeera, “Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson are shown talking together at a Buckingham Palace reception on Tuesday night after the beginning of the NATO summit marking its 70th anniversary. Earlier in the day, Trump addressed a series of lengthy news conferences where he made several controversial comments, including again calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ‘Rocket Man’ and accusing Macron of making ‘very nasty comments’ about the Western military alliance. The video widely shared on social media shows Johnson, Macron, and Trudeau caught by a microphone discussing why the French leader was late for the reception, following his awkward news conference with Trump. A snickering Johnson asks Macron, ‘Is that why you were late?’ With a beverage in his hand, Trudeau interjects: ‘He was late because he takes a 40 minute press conference off the top,’ apparently referring to Macron's testy exchange in front of reporters with Trump, who at one point asked the French president if he ‘wants to take some ISIS [ISIL] fighters back, because we got lots of them.’ Later, the video shows the three in an animated discussion with the Canadian leader saying: ‘You just watched his team's jaws drop to the floor,’ motioning with his hand to his face. It is unclear from the audio recording whether Trump is actually the focus of their conversation.” [Al Jazeera, 12/4/19]