Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump on Saturday questioned the United States’ protective relationship with Saudi Arabia and again accused U.S. allies of not pulling their weight in the NATO military alliance despite mounting bipartisan pressure on Mr. Trump to soften his tone.
The billionaire businessman told a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin that allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “are not paying their fair share” and called the 28-nation alliance “obsolete”. “Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO”, Mr. Trump said.
At a campaign stop in Wausau, Wisconsin on Saturday, Mr. Trump expressed concerns over the United States’ relationship with oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which he accused of not pitching in fair pay for U.S. defence.
“We take care of Saudi Arabia. Now nobody’s going to mess with Saudi Arabia because we’re watching them”, he said. “They’re not paying us a fair price. We’re losing our shirt”, he said.
On Friday, President Barack Obama had cast doubt on Mr. Trump’s fitness for office after the latter refused to rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe and said Japan and South Korea might need nuclear arms. “The person who made the statements doesn’t know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean peninsula, or the world generally”, Mr. Obama had said.
Economic bubble “I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble”, he said in an interview published on The Washington Post on Saturday. He added that U.S. jobless figure is much higher than five per cent number released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We’re at a number that’s probably into the twenties if you look at the real number”, he said. He also vowed to wipe out the more than $19 trillion national debt “over a period of eight years”, helped by a renegotiation of trade deals.
Tuesday could be a turning point in the Republican nomination race, when Wisconsin hosts its nominating contest. Mr. Trump (69) trails his leading rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (45) of Texas in the Upper Midwestern state.
