Trump says will ask Europeans to repay US for aiding Ukraine

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will ask European countries to repay the United States for aid sent to Ukraine under former president Joe Biden. Trump has long pushed Europe to shoulder more of the cost of Western support in Ukraine's war with Russia, now in its fifth year.

Why does Trump want Europe to repay Ukraine aid?

Trump said Europe received hundreds of billions of dollars in free aid for Ukraine and NATO that it should have paid for itself. He wrote on Truth Social that Washington would now ask for that money, though somewhat belatedly. Trump did not name which countries he expects to pay.

Is Trump still providing military aid to Ukraine?

In the same post, Trump rejected reports that the US military was running low on munitions in its confrontation with Iran. He said the country had virtually unlimited amounts of mid to high grade ammunition, with production running at levels never seen before. Washington was building up stockpiles and preparing for contingencies, he said, and had temporarily suspended overseas arms sales.

Trump said the US was keeping munitions for itself rather than selling them to others for now. He added that sales to allies would soon resume.