Donald Trump Accuses President Biden Of Stopping Peace Deal Between Russia And Ukraine

Things P.O. on Ukraine and Iran—the two negotiations you'll be heading into.

Um, on Ukraine, you said just before, it's a lot more complicated now, much more complicated. Do you believe it is because it would have never started, right? But it has started. It's you. You not only started, the cities are largely knocked down. You got what you've got at this point. Would you hold on to leverage in dealing with President Putin? Would you make a commitment to the Ukrainians that you will keep supporting them during the negotiations?

Well, I wouldn't tell you if that were the case. Would you make a commitment to provide a security guarantee if they do enter into an armistice or a ceasefire along the lines of the French and the Germans?

So, you know, a big part of the problem was Russia for many, many years, long before Putin said you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they've said that, and that's been like written in stone. Somewhere along the line, Biden said no; they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feeling about that.

But there were a lot of mistakes made in that negotiation. When I heard the way that Biden was negotiating, I said you're going to end up in a war. It turned out to be a very bad war. It could escalate. That war could escalate to be much worse than it is right now. They can never join.

Well, my view is that it was always understood. In fact, I believe that they had a deal, and then Biden broke it. They had a deal, which would have been a satisfactory deal to Ukraine and everybody else, but Biden said no; you have to be able to join NATO. And that's always been. And nobody knows more about NATO than I do.

You know, years ago when I first started this, I didn't know too much about NATO, but I got it right anyway. I said they’re taking advantage. I'm the one that got—and the Secretary General was here, as you know, two weeks ago, saying that if it weren't for me, NATO wouldn't even exist right now because I raised from countries that weren't paying their bills at that time—28 countries, 20 of them were not paying their bills, 21 to be exact. They weren't paying, or they were paying a very small portion, and I raised over $680 billion—that was the number he gave—by saying if you don't pay, we're not going to protect you.

As soon as I said that, the money came pouring in. But Obama could have said it. Other people could have said it. Bush could have said it. Nobody said it but me. I took a lot of heat. They said, "Oh, that's a threatening statement." Well, they weren't paying their bills. I said we're not going to protect if you're not paying the bills.

So, in a true sense, I saved NATO, but NATO's taking advantage of us. One of the problems that I have—and I've said it openly, I said it to President Zelensky—is Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we're in. Now, whether you like that situation or not, Europe is much more affected than the United States. We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe?

You know, they're a similar size, a little smaller, but they're a similar size economy as the United States when you add them up. And yet, Europe is in for a small fraction of the number the United States is in. Now, Biden could have called them up during the term—that's what I did. I said you have to pay your bills, and they all one stood up.

I won't say who; you'll probably have it because the papers—the media hated to report on it—but a prime minister up from a country, you know, a famous meeting of 28 nations with no press, no anybody in the room. He stood up; he says, "Does that mean if we don't pay our bill?" At that point, it was 2%. It should be 5%. It should be 5%, not 2%. But at that point, it was 2%.

But many people didn't pay. Some people didn't pay anything, but many people were away, including Germany. Germany was at less than 1%. Well, I think NATO should have 5%. Yeah, well, you can't do it at 2%. I mean, at 2%, every country, if you're going to have a country with a regular military, you're at 4%. I think they should be, you know, they're in dangerous territory. I think you should be. They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%.

I'm the one that got them to pay 2%. But a gentleman stood up—a prime minister stood up—and he said to me, "Sir, could I ask you a question? You're saying we have to pay our bills. If we don't pay our bills, will the United States protect us from Russia?" I said, "If you—you don't pay—you mean you're delinquent?" He said yes. He said, "If you're delinquent, we will not protect you."

I took a lot of heat, although it was somewhat closed door. I took a lot of heat from the media, and you know what happened? The money started pouring in. That's why NATO has money, and the Secretary General said it was the most incredible thing he had ever seen in a negotiation. Now, if I would have said yes, we will, nobody would have paid. If I—I would have loved to have said yes, we'll protect you even if you don't pay, but that's not the way life works.