By Melanie Sun
Former President Donald Trump has called on the U.S. Congress to stop gifting U.S. aid to foreign nations without any “strings” attached.
“From this point forward, are you listening U.S. Senate(?), no money in the form of foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan, not just a giveaway,” the 45th president said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Feb. 10, calling particularly for the Senate’s attention.
“It can be loaned on extraordinarily good terms, like no interest and an unlimited life, but a loan nevertheless.
“The deal should be (Contingent!) that the U.S. is helping you as a nation, but if the country we are helping ever turns against us, or strikes it rich sometime in the future, the loan will be paid off and the money returned to the United States,” President Trump said.
The suggestion comes as the GOP front-runner and leader of the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement campaigns for the 2024 presidency with a foreign policy record that caused somewhat of a stir on the international stage.
As the 45th president of the United States, President Trump pushed many contrarian views on the world stage, questioning why the United States has been expected to fund more than its fair share in multilateral efforts. He said at the time that he believed many of the international platforms were no longer serving the U.S. interests he wanted to prioritize, such as providing benefit to U.S. producers and manufacturing over those of other countries.
His repositioning to an “America First” policy in international dealings caused a stir with many partner nations. But over time, President Trump’s criticisms and policies have seen a reshuffling of agreements among allies, including greater investment by partner nations in intergovernmental institutions like NATO.
“We should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without ‘strings’ attached,” President Trump said. “The United States of America should be ‘stupid’ no longer.”
The comment came ahead of President Trump’s campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, after a $118 billion foreign security package recently failed in the Senate after he expressed opposition to it.
President Trump has also enjoyed a record-breaking week at the polls. He surpassed his own 2016 record in the Nevada Republican Caucus on Feb. 8, drawing about 60,000 votes—almost double that of the 34,500 received in 2016.
As a result, President Trump swept up all of the state’s 26 delegates after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley opted for a Nevada primary two days earlier that didn’t award any delegates.
But she suffered an embarrassing setback when voters overwhelmingly chose “None of These Candidates” over her in the Feb. 6 contest.
“2024 is our Final Battle,” President Trump added in another post. “With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will Drain the Swamp, and we will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all!”
“Thank you South Carolina!!!”
The South Carolina primaries, which has 50 delegates up for grabs, is scheduled for Feb. 24.
Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
