Trump Pushes Ukraine Aid as a Loan With Funding Bill Stalled

(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump pushed for providing Ukraine aid as a loan as efforts to approve further assistance remain deadlocked in Congress amid a domestic fight over immigration and border policy.

“They want to give them $60 billion more,” Trump said Wednesday at a rally in North Charleston, as he campaigned before South Carolina’s Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary. “Do it this way. Loan them the money. If they can make it, they pay us back. If they can’t make it, they don’t have to pay us back.”

“Why should you just hand it over to them? Do it as the form of a loan,” he added.

trump pushes ukraine aid as a loan with funding bill stalled

Donald Trump Holds Get Out the Vote Rally

Trump likened the plan to deals he said he cut with athletes who had potential but lacked money at the start of their careers.

“I do that with athletes,” Trump said. “You know like a professional golfer who I think is very good. They don’t have any money, but they have a lot of talent. I’ll say here’s the deal.”

Trump pushed his allies in Congress to kill a proposal that included both tougher border policies with Ukraine funding, urging Republicans to hold out for a “perfect” deal on immigration. Senators passed a $95 billion package Tuesday that drops the immigration measures and includes over $60 billion in Ukraine aid, along with funds for Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, though, is refusing to take it up until a GOP-only bill on immigration is enacted.

Some Senate Republicans who support Ukraine aid in principle, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, backed an idea floated by Trump over the weekend in a social media post that would make the foreign aid to Ukraine and other countries zero-interest loans with no scheduled repayments.

NATO Threat

The former president is considering scaled-back commitments to some members of NATO and pushing Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to office.

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.

Trump has said he would allow Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to member countries that failed to meet their funding commitments. He reiterated his criticism of the alliance on Wednesday night.

Republicans have largely shrugged off those comments but they caused alarm in many foreign capitals, where there is already growing concern about the US commitment to global security amid the standoff over Ukraine aid.

Both Nikki Haley, Trump’s last major Republican challenger, and President Joe Biden, his likely general-election opponent, have seized on his opposition to Ukraine aid and criticism of NATO allies as an opening to attack the GOP frontrunner’s foreign policy tenets.

Biden on Tuesday delivered a blistering rebuke of Trump, urging Johnson to ignore the GOP frontrunner’s pressure and allow a House vote on Ukraine aid.

“For God sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American,” Biden said about Trump’s comments regarding NATO.

Trump’s rhetoric on the military alliance, though, is likely to appeal to his base, which has embraced his populist foreign policy stances. Haley has been an outlier in the GOP contest, espousing more traditional views such as support for Ukraine.

Recent polls show Trump leading Haley by more than 30 percentage points in South Carolina as he closes in on the nomination.

Haley called it a “mistake” for Trump to side with Putin over US allies n an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Surveillance on Monday.

“Do we want NATO to pay more? Of course we do. But the last thing we’re going to do is side with a thug,” she said.

Haley is backing legislation that would allow the US to seize sovereign Russian assets to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction, putting her on the same page as the White House.

(Updates with additional details, background from 11th paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg

    ©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

    News Related

    OTHER NEWS

    Lawsuit seeks $16 million against Maryland county over death of pet dog shot by police

    A department investigator accused two of the officers of “conduct unbecoming an officer” for entering the apartment without a warrant, but the third officer was cleared of wrongdoing, the suit says. Read more »

    Heidi Klum shares rare photo of all 4 of her and Seal's kids

    Heidi Klum posted a rare picture with husband Tom Kaulitz and her four kids: Leni, 19, Henry, 18, Johan, 17, and Lou, 14, having some quality family time. Read more »

    European stocks head for flat open as markets struggle to find momentum

    This is CNBC’s live blog covering European markets. European markets are heading for a flat open Tuesday, continuing lackluster sentiment seen at the start of the week in the region ... Read more »

    Linda C. Black Horoscopes: November 28

    Nancy Black Today’s Birthday (11/28/23). This year energizes your work and health. Faithful domestic routines provide central support. Shift directions to balance your work and health, before adapting around team ... Read more »

    Michigan Democrats poised to test ambitious environmental goals in the industrial Midwest

    FILE – One of more than 4,000 solar panels constructed by DTE Energy lines a 9.37-acre swath of land in Ann Arbor Township, Mich., Sept. 15, 2015. Michigan will join ... Read more »

    Gaza Is Falling Into ‘Absolute Chaos,’ Aid Groups Say

    A shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has allowed a surge of aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza, but humanitarian groups and civilians in the enclave say the convoys aren’t ... Read more »

    Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families to march together in anti-hate vigil

    Demonstrators march against the rise of antisemitism in the UK on Sunday – SUSANNAH IRELAND/REUTERS Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families will march together as part of an anti-hate vigil on ... Read more »
    Top List in the World