Amidst Donald Trump ridiculous rhetoric about NATO and Nikki Haley’s husband over the weekend, the former president’s latest statement on foreign aid went largely overlooked. That’s understandable but unfortunate, since the Republican’s newly stated vision was, and is, radical in important ways.
As the Senate prepared to pass a security aid package benefiting Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, Trump turned to his social media platform on Saturday afternoon to tout a new position on how the United States should approach investments abroad.
In a 126-word, all-caps screed, the Republican declared, “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 GOP’s likely 2024 nominee went to write, “We should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without ‘strings’ attached. The United States of America should be ‘stupid’ no longer!”
When this failed to generate much attention, I more or less assumed that the online tirade would go ignored, and the former president’s allies would pretend the statement never happened. That assumption was wrong. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, for example, announced his opposition to a bipartisan security aid package overnight, and made this argument while explaining his position:
“I believe the solution to this problem is the following formula. The supplemental aid package should be a loan to the countries in question, as suggested by President Trump. A loan on friendly terms allows America, who is deeply in debt, a chance to get our money back and changes the paradigm of how we help others. President Trump is right to insist that we think outside the box.”
The South Carolinian added that he hoped to see the GOP-led House “turn the supplemental aid package into a loan instead of a grant” — just like the former president demanded.
Remember, it was just nine months ago…
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