Donald Trump gave several objectionable responses when pressed about how he would approach foreign policy in the Oval Office in a The New York Times interview published late Wednesday.
Here are some of the scariest comments he made:
America’s role in assisting NATO allies
Trump hesitated in saying the United States would automatically come to the defense of the 28 members of NATO. The Times asked specifically if Trump would, in light of Russia’s recent aggressions, assist the smaller Baltic States that most recently joined NATO if Russia were to attack.
The real estate mogul responded that he would assist those allies—after considering whether they “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”
Trump’s remark to the Times comes after his staffers worked to soften language in the Republican Party’s 2016 platform about arming Ukraine to combat Russian forces.
Trump’s top aide, Paul Manafort, claimed to Mother Jones that Trump had been misquoted on this point:
Manafort tells me NYT misquoted Trump on defending NATO allies and respecting existing agreements. Says it does this a lot. NYT, got a tape?
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 21, 2016
The Times’ reporter in the meeting with Trump, Maggie Haberman, stood by her report:
@DavidCornDC he wasn’t in the interview and unlikely he had time to catch up to it before convention program began. Transcript soon.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 21, 2016
Reining in U.S. bases abroad
Trump repeated his proposal to reign in U.S. troops abroad and bring military bases back to American soil.
“If we decide we have to defend the United States, we can always deploy (from American soil),” Trump was quoted as saying, “and it will be a lot less expensive.”
Solving Islamic State unrest through “meetings”
When asked how he would solve the issue of Turkey attacking the Kurdish forces the U.S. has supported in combating the Islamic State, Trump reportedly paused and responded with one word: “meetings.”
Read the Times’ full report here.
