After breaking three years of isolation with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, and the consensus among Western allies on how to respond to Russian aggression, Donald Trump has doubled down on his stance on Thursday, defending his actions and delving deeper into his interpretation of global geopolitics. He has also suggested that defense spending is excessive and that he will speak with Beijing and Moscow to jointly reduce it by half in the future, while now demanding that all allies increase it to 5% of GDP, not just the 2% as agreed by NATO in 2014.
Responding to journalists' questions after signing the executive order declaring a total trade war on the EU and the rest of the world, with "reciprocal tariffs" for any country with trade, regulatory, or tax restrictions, Trump insisted that calling Putin and agreeing to start peace negotiations without prior consensus with Kiev was the right thing to do. "I wouldn't do it any other way. Some have said, oh, I should have called Zelenskyi first. I don't think so. I mean, we had to find out if Russia wants to reach an agreement or not. I know Zelenski wants to reach an agreement because he told me, but now I know Russia does too," he justified.
The president stated, addressing Kiev's concerns, that they will certainly have a "seat at the negotiating table." "We will have Ukraine, Russia, and other people involved. Many people, there are many branches in this game. I'll tell you something. This is a very interesting situation. But the war in Ukraine must end. They are killing young people at levels not seen since World War II, it's a ridiculous war and it has to end."
Similarly, Trump has indicated that he "trusts" Putin on this matter. "We had a very good conversation. Yes, I believe Putin wants peace. I spoke with him yesterday, I know him very well, and I think if he didn't want it, he would have told me. I trust him on this," he added. In his speech, Trump went further, saying that "expelling Russia from the G8," as happened after the Crimea invasion, "was a huge mistake. I would like Russia to return, and Putin would love it. It was a mistake, and perhaps if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been a war in Ukraine. And if I were president, there would never have been a war," he insisted with his usual rhetoric.
From the Oval Office, while excusing, defending, or giving reasons for Russian actions, Trump vehemently attacked Joe Biden and Barack Obama, effectively holding them responsible for the invasion. "I don't see any way a country in Russia's position could allow them to join NATO. Long before President Putin, Russia was very strong. I believe that's why the war started because Biden came out and said they could join NATO. And he shouldn't have said that. As soon as I heard it, I said, 'You know what? You're going to have a war now.' And I was right. This is a war that would never have happened if I were president."
Consistent with his stance, sympathetic to the Kremlin and relentless towards his predecessors, Trump insulted Biden and the US military by calling him "incompetent" and saying that "when he said they could join NATO, I thought it was very stupid. The other thing that started it all was how badly Miller, those stupid people and those bad generals, did in Afghanistan. I was going to withdraw, but we would do it with dignity and strength, and we would take our team and everything else with us. I think Putin saw that disaster and said, 'Wow, this is a great moment. I'm going in.'
None of this is new, but his idea that through collaboration with China and Russia, the US could reduce defense spending is. This goes against decades of positioning, especially within his own party.
"At some point, when things calm down, I will meet with China and I will meet with Russia, especially with those two, and I will say that there is no reason for us to spend nearly a trillion dollars on the military... and I will say that we can spend this on other things," Trump said, causing a blow to companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, or General Dynamics. "When we clear everything up, one of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia, and I want to tell them to cut our military budget in half. And we can do it, and I think we will be able to do it," he added.