Trump Claims South Korea and NATO Did Not Help on Iran, Says He 'Will Remember'

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated claims on the 30th (local time) that South Korea did not help regarding the Iran war, mentioning that he "will remember that."

In an interview with Fox News broadcasted on the night of the same day, President Trump expressed frustration, stating that the U.S. spends "billions of dollars helping NATO and other countries, for instance, a country like South Korea." He added, "We help them, but when the time came for them to help us and we asked, 'Will you participate?' everyone said, 'No, that's okay.'"

He continued, "For example, in the case of South Korea, there are 40,000 (actually about 28,500) American troops there," and claimed, "So when I said, 'Can't you help us a little bit with respect to Iran?' they (the South Korean government) answered, 'We'd rather not.'"

President Trump added, "I replied, 'Okay. Thank you very much, I appreciate it. But please remember this. I mean it.'"

This appears to once again reveal his perception that when he requested several countries to dispatch warships for an escort operation for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz amid the escalating Iran war in March, he did not receive a satisfactory response.

At that time, President Trump publicly mentioned five countries—South Korea, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France—via social media to request the dispatch of warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

In this interview as well, Trump put forward the logic that there is no need to spend money for allies who do not help the U.S.

President Trump stated, "If they don't want to step up for us, we can't just help them like fools," adding, "So we end up making a lot of money (since we don't have to spend money on allies)."

During the roughly 40-minute interview, President Trump also poured out specific and intense criticisms regarding Canada, which is facing trade disputes with the U.S., and Iran, which is at war.

Addressing Canada, President Trump remarked, "We are losing 60 billion dollars a year to Canada," and asked, "Canada seems to think they are a U.S. state, but they aren't. Why should we subsidize Canada?"

Regarding Iran, he called it "the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism," and emphasized that he cannot tolerate Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, stating, "(Iranians) are tough and smart, but vicious. If they get nuclear weapons, Israel will cease to exist."

He also claimed that if he had not become U.S. president, neither Israel nor the Middle East itself would have existed.

Regarding the prolonged Iran war, President Trump reiterated his stance, saying, "We are doing well," and "Their navy, air force, leadership, and air defense network are all gone. They have been completely devastated."

He then stated, "When the appropriate moment comes, we will win or take some action," adding, "We just don't need a scrap-of-paper signature."

He did not miss mentioning U.S. domestic politics.

Targeting the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a radical left-wing faction of the Democratic Party that recently made strides in intra-party primary elections, President Trump stated, "This is not socialism, it's communism," and mentioned that after watching an interview of a candidate from the DSA camp, he thought, "They are out of their minds. It is very dangerous for our country."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.