President-elect Donald Trump said he “vehemently” disagrees with the Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to hit military targets deep within Russian territory.
The current administration lifted long-held restrictions on Ukraine’s usage of U.S.-provided weapons last month in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to Russia to use in the war. Ukrainian leaders had been asking for loosened rules for over a year, which President Joe Biden‘s administration had repeatedly declined.
Trump called the decision a “very big mistake” during his interview with Time magazine released on Thursday.
“It’s crazy what’s taking place,” he explained. “It’s crazy. I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done. Now they’re doing not only missiles, but they’re doing other types of weapons.”
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly after getting into office, though he has largely declined to specify how he would get both sides to come to a diplomatic agreement to end the conflict.
The Biden administration said it would support Ukraine as long as it takes for it to win the war and has given it more than $60 billion worth of military aid over the course of the war. The administration has sent out billions of dollars of aid since Trump won the election under the concern that the incoming administration will stop providing aid to Ukraine.
“I want everything to end,” Trump said of conflicts across the globe. “I want, I don’t want people killed, you know? I don’t want people from either side killed, and that includes whether it’s Russia, Ukraine, or whether it’s the Palestinians and the Israelis and all of the, you know, the different entities that we have in the Middle East. There’s so many different entities. But I don’t want people killed.”
Trump also wants to see the wars across the Middle East end, which began after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel.
“Oct. 7 was a very terrible day. You know, Oct. 7. People are forgetting about it. They don’t ever mention,” Trump explained. “It was a tragic day. The other thing that’s happening are the hostages, where are the hostages, why aren’t they back? Well, they could be gone. They could be gone.”
Israeli forces have killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, at least half of which were civilians, according to Israeli officials. Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced from its homes and is facing a persistent humanitarian crisis. Israel’s military has killed most of Hamas’s senior leaders, though the group holds about 100 Israelis hostage.
Israel has decimated Hezbollah’s senior leadership, and the two sides agreed to a ceasefire deal that came into effect in late November to end more than a year of fighting. Israel has conducted airstrikes against targets in Yemen, Syria, and Iran. Iran and the Houthis, which are based in Yemen, have also carried out attacks on Israel.
“I think [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] feels very confident in me,” Trump added. “I think he knows I want it to end.”
“I think that the Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. OK, I just want to say that up front. The Middle East is going to get solved,” the president-elect continued. “I support whatever solution we can do to get peace. There are other ideas other than two state, but I support whatever, whatever is necessary to get not just peace, a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy.”
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As to whether Trump trusts Netanyahu?
“I don’t trust anybody,” he said.