Trump suggests Ukraine take loan for aid

Former US president and likely candidate at the next presidential elections Donald Trump is promoting the idea to supply Ukraine with aid as a loan.

"They want to give them $60 billion more. Do it this way. Loan them the money. If they can make it, they pay us back. If they can’t make it, they don’t have to pay us back," Trump said Wednesday at a rally in North Charleston, as he campaigned before South Carolina’s 24 February Republican presidential primary, according to Bloomberg.

He compared this plan with the agreements which he made with athletes who had potential but had no money at the beginning of their career.

"Why should you just hand it over to them? Do it as the form of a loan… I do that with athletes. You know, like a professional golfer who I think is very good. They don’t have any money, but they have a lot of talent," he added.

Some Senate Republicans who support Ukraine aid in principle, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, backed the idea that would make the foreign aid to Ukraine and other countries zero-interest loans with no scheduled repayments, which was presented by Trump over the weekend in a social media post.

This week the US Senate voted for a package bill which provides for US$61 billion for Ukraine as the support for its efforts in resisting Russia’s aggression, US$14 billion for Israel in its war against HAMAS and US$4.83 billion more as the support for the partners in the Indo-Pacific region, mainly Taiwan, and deterring the aggression from the side of China.

It is so far unknown whether a sufficient number of Republicans in the Chamber of Representatives will agree to support the project after it is approved by the Senate.

Speaker Mike Johnson stated earlier that he would not submit a bill for voting if it did not contain the steps towards protecting the US southern border. But some Republicans are already publicly pressuring Johnson, demanding him to approve the document.