USA, presidential elections 2024. Donald Trump on NATO, Russia, Ukraine. His plans for a second term in the White House – interview for “Time” magazine

In an interview with the American weekly “Time”, which was published on Tuesday, Donald Trump answered a number of questions about what his possible second term would look like if he wins the November elections. The Republican candidate for the White House was asked, among others: 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 it. Europe is not paying as much as it should, Trump said. He also repeated 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 said. He argued that he got on very well with the president of Russia. He added that if he returns to the White House, he will secure the release of the American journalist “The Wall Street Journal” Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, and accused Biden of inaction in this matter.

Trump also referred to his views on NATO and his campaign declaration that he would let Russia “do whatever the hell it wants” with alliance countries that do not pay enough for their defense. The former president said this was a way to get Europe to spend more.

– I said: if you don't pay, you'll be on your own. And I meant it, Trump said. He added that after his statement, NATO members significantly increased defense spending. He emphasized that only eight countries met the minimum defense spending target agreed at the Alliance summit in 2014, i.e. at least 2 percent of GDP. “The rest are behind,” he said. “I told them, 'If you don't pay, have fun, but we won't protect you,'” Trump recalled.

– He said that “that's what you say as a negotiator.” – I negotiate because I want them to pay. I want Europe to pay. I don't want anything bad to happen to Europe, he stressed. – I love Europe, I love Europeans, I have great relations with Europe. But they took advantage of us, both in NATO and in Ukraine. We spent billions of dollars more in Ukraine. It should not be like this. It should be otherwise. Because it (the war in Ukraine – ed.) affects them much more. We are separated by an ocean, he said. He added that he was not against NATO nor did he want to renegotiate the treaty, but only for “Europe to pay its bills.”

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 his good relations with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, he has his own “visions”, according to Trump.

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

He said that the words about being a dictator were a joke – although he noted that many people liked them – and when it comes to the constitution, he would “stop violating it.” According to Trump, it is a violation of the constitution for the prosecutor's office to prosecute him.

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At the same time, the former president stated that the biggest enemy of the US is not China or Russia, but its opponents inside the country.

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

As “Time” writes, despite Trump's softening of his statements, his plan for his second term is to “transform America and its role in the world.” The letter mentions, among others: about his intentions to carry out a gigantic deportation of 11 million immigrants using the army, to allow the prosecution of people violating abortion bans in individual states, to purge officials and to dismiss prosecutors who disobey him.