Europe needs to do more itself to support Ukraine, Donald Trump warned on Thursday night as the U.S. Congress edges closer to approving new military aid for Kyiv.
The U.S. Republican Party standard bearer, a prominent NATO skeptic who could return to the White House after November’s election, complained: “Why isn’t Europe giving more money to help Ukraine? Why is it that the United States is over $100 Billion … into the Ukraine War more than Europe, and we have an Ocean between us as separation!”
Trump for years has accused European NATO allies of freeloading on America to provide protection against hostile foreign powers and urged them to spend more on defense. The issue has become especially acute for European security officials given Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s increasing belligerence and revanchist rhetoric.
In raw numbers, the United States dwarfs the amount of military aid sent by any European country.
“Why can’t Europe equalize or match the money put in by the United States of America in order to help a Country in desperate need?” Trump railed on his Truth Social platform. “As everyone agrees, Ukrainian Survival and Strength should be much more important to Europe than to us, but it is also important to us! GET MOVING EUROPE!”
The former president’s remarks come as Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is expected to submit a bill for a vote on some $60 billion in aid for Ukraine that’s been snarled up for months by hard-line members of his party.
Ukraine is struggling to resist Putin’s full-scale invasion, more than two years after it began and faces a make-or-break moment. Ukrainian forces are running short of critical weapons and ammunition as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges the West to step up its support.
Johnson is embracing $60.8 billion in assistance to Ukraine in a push to prevent deep losses on the battlefield, amid warnings that Ukrainians are losing faith in the U.S. following months of delay.
In familiar rhetoric, Trump concluded: “If I were President, this War would have never started.”
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