USA, Presidential Election 2024. Donald Trump on NATO, Russia, Ukraine. He plans to run for a second term in the White House – an interview with “Time” magazine

In an interview with US weekly “Time” published on Tuesday, Donald Trump answered several questions about what his second term would look like if he wins the November election. The Republican candidate for the White House was asked, among other things: about the issue of support for Ukraine.

– I will try to help Ukraine, but Europe must also do it and do its job. They don't do that. Europe is not paying as much as it should, Trump said. He also reiterated that if he were president, Russia would never decide to invade.

In his opinion, Biden “treated Putin very badly.” “Putin should never have invaded Ukraine. He argued that he got along very well with the Russian president. He said that if he returned to the White House, he would defend the release of Ivan Gershkovich, an American journalist of “The Wall Street Journal” jailed in Russia on espionage charges, and accused Biden of inaction on the matter. .

Trump referred to his views on NATO and his campaign announcement that he would let Russia “do whatever it wants” with allies who don't pay enough for its defense. The former president said it was a way to make Europe spend more.

– I said: if you don't pay, you will be on your own. I mentioned it, Trump said. After his statement, NATO members significantly increased defense spending. Only eight countries have met the minimum defense spending target agreed at the alliance summit in 2014, which is at least 2 percent of GDP. “The rest are behind,” he said. “I told them, 'If you don't pay, have fun, but we're not going to protect you,'” Trump recalled.

– He said, “That's what you mean by negotiation.” – I negotiate because they have to pay. I have to pay Europe. I don't want anything bad to happen to Europe, he stressed. – I love Europe, I love Europeans, I have a good relationship with Europe. But they used us in NATO and Ukraine. We spent another billion dollars in Ukraine. It should not be like this. It should be otherwise. Because it (the war in Ukraine – version) affects them more. We are separated by an ocean, he said. He is not anti-NATO or wants to renegotiate the treaty, but said “Europe must pay its dues”.

He also spoke in a similar tone about the presence of American soldiers in South Korea, who – as he noted – are in a difficult situation because, despite good relations with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, he has his own “visions”. According to Trump.

The Republican presidential candidate softened his previous statements about his intentions to be “a dictator for a day” or suspend the constitution.

He said the words dictator were ridiculous – although he noted that many people wanted to – when it came to the Constitution, he would “stop violating it”. According to Trump, the Attorney General's office suing him is unconstitutional.

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At the same time, the former president mentioned that America's biggest enemy is not China or Russia, but the enemies within the country.

– The internal enemy is a greater threat to this country than the external enemy (…), because if the president is a good, solid, moral man, you will not have any problems with China, Russia or others, but you still have problems with sick people inside the country – he assessed.

As “Time” writes, although Trump has softened his statements, his plan for his second term “is to transform America and its role in the world.” The letter mentions, among other things: his plans to use the military to mass-deport 11 million immigrants, allow individual states to prosecute violators of abortion bans, purge officials and fire disobedient prosecutors.