Trump Says Israel ‘Can Pay’ for Own Defense Needs

Ahead of his speech at the pro-Israel AIPAC conference on Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a press conference that Israel “can pay and they can pay big” to defend itself without receiving U.S. foreign aid.

Trump held the press conference in the atrium of his still-under-construction Trump International Hotel, and though he had come directly from a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans, his initial comments were focused solely on how luxurious his hotel would be once it was completed and how it would be covered in “beautiful marble from different parts of the world.”

Trump, standing behind a “Trump Hotels” lectern, was surprised that the first question asked was not on the hotel but rather about who joined him at his secretive meeting with Republican insiders on Capitol Hill.

“That has nothing to do with this, but that’s OK,” said Trump, gesturing towards the architecture he had spent the initial five minutes explaining.

Trump did not provide names of people that were at his meeting at D.C. law firm Jones Day but said that his campaign would provide a full list in the near future.

With his speech at AIPAC looming, Trump was asked numerous times for details on his policy towards Israel.

When he was asked whether Israel was included in the countries like Germany, Japan, and South Korea that Trump has said should not receive foreign aid because they can pay to defend themselves, Trump said, “I think Israel will do that also, yeah.”

“I think that Israel will—there are many countries that can pay and can pay big,” he said.

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