Trump Calls for No More Aid ‘Without the Hope of Payback’

With the US Senate set to vote on a $95.3 billion foreign aid package that would provide for Israel and Ukraine, former President Donald Trump on Saturday insisted the US should not provide foreign aid unless it is structured as a loan.

“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!” Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded after being banned from Twitter in 2021.

Trump’s comments came in the wake of his successful attempts to torpedo a $118 billion bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package that Senate Republicans ended up blocking Wednesday. 

The former president’s comments on Saturday suggest the new foreign aid package, on which the Senate is slated to begin procedural votes on Sunday, will end up similarly torpedoed.

Trump boasted about how he helped kill the $118 billion bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package at a rally on Saturday.

“This week we also had another massive victory that every conservative should celebrate: we crushed Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous open borders bill. Crushed it,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina.

The deal would have provided aid to key US allies abroad, including billions of dollars to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia and security assistance for Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

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Republicans had initially demanded that border security be part of that bill, but then appeared to move the goalposts under pressure from Trump. The US southern border is a central campaign issue in his race for the White House.

The $95.3 billion aid package the Senate is currently working to pass was advanced on Thursday with a vote of 67 to 32.

The new bill may face obstacles beyond Trump signaling opposition, CNN reported, specifically from Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky – who has long opposed foreign aid – and is using chamber rules to slow its progress.

If the bill is eventually passed by the Senate, it would next go to the House, where it’s unclear when or whether Speaker Mike Johnson would hold a vote on it. Many House Republicans are opposed to further aid to Ukraine.

The new foreign aid package includes billions of dollars to support Ukraine and for security assistance for Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

The bill includes $60 billion to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel, $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance and $4.8 billion to support regional partners in the Indo-Pacific region, among other provisions, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.