Donald Trump says countries around the world are “ripping us off,” and a way to cut the astronomical deficit, without touching social programs like Medicaid or Medicare, is — for example — to charge South Korea for military protection.
“Tremendous amounts of money — and I’ve never heard it said — but I think hundreds of millions of dollars of money, and let’s call it tax money, could come from other countries when we stop them from ripping us off,” Trump said Monday in a telephone interview with CNN, reiterating that he will make a decision on running for president by June.
“As an example, we are protecting South Korea from North Korea: Why aren’t they paying us? South Korea makes a fortune; if they were a company, their stock would be very high, and they make a fortune largely because of us,” he said. “When bombs were thrown at them a month ago by North Korea, we sent the George Washington aircraft carrier . . . and a fleet of destroyers. Why aren’t they paying for this protection? I don’t mind, we’ll protect them. Pay for the protection.
“So, when you look at a hundred other items just like this, hundreds of millions of dollars could come in, so you wouldn’t have to play around with Medicaid and Medicare, and things that are really dear to people’s hearts,” Trump said.