Donald Trump said on Thursday he would ask European countries to pay the United States for aid given to Ukraine under former President Joe Biden.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said “hundreds of billions of dollars” had been given to Ukraine and NATO free of charge.
He argued that Europe would have paid that money if it had only been asked, adding that Washington would now seek repayment even if a little late.
Trump has long insisted, including before returning to the White House, that European allies should bear more of the cost of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. However, his explicit reference to repayment appears to be new.
He did not say which European countries he would seek to charge if the United States follows through on the demand.
Trump raised the issue in a message focused mainly on US weapons stockpiles, again rejecting media reports that they had been depleted by the war in Iran.
