Former President Donald Trump is considering a ‘loan’ system for future Ukraine aid if he becomes president.
Trump mentioned the proposed form of funding during his meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday.
‘We’re looking at it right now, and they’re talking about it, and we’re thinking about making it in the form of a loan instead of just a gift,’ he said during the media event at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
He added, ‘We keep handing out gifts of billions and billions of dollars, and we’ll take a look at it.’
Trump has been highly critical of the United States’ financial support to Ukraine, claiming that money has been spent without clear improvement in the conflict.
It’s not the first time Trump has floated the loan idea — he once expressed such a format for aid via a message on his propietary social media website Truth Social.
In that message, the former president insisted that the repayment of the loan would come with zero interest and would not be demanded unless Ukraine ‘strikes it rich sometime in the future.’
Trump also reiterated on Friday a complaint made since the beginning of the conflict, asserting that European countries should be paying more to defend Ukraine due to their immediate interest in its existence between themselves and Russia.
‘But much more importantly to me is the fact that Europe has to step up, and they have to give money,’ Trump said at the Mar-a-Lago event.
He added, ‘They have to equalize. If they don’t equalize I’m very upset about it, because they’re affected much more than we are.’
The joint conference with Johnson was centered on ‘election integrity’ and served to solidify support around the speaker as his support among some GOP lawmakers has wavered.
Trump allies in the House have become the most fierce opponents to continued financial aid for Ukraine, insisting that foreign wars have no relevance to the U.S. and do not warrant intervention.