Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be able to exist without US: Trump

March 28: Over two telephone conversations on Friday, Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, discussed his views on foreign policy with Maggie Haberman and David E Sanger of The New York Times. Here are some excerpts we highlighted.

On whether he would be willing for the United States to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a confrontation with adversaries:

“An absolute last step... I personally think it’s biggest problem the world has, nuclear capability... And the first one to use them, I think that would be a very bad thing. And I will tell you, I would very much not want to be the first one to use them, that I can say.”

On whether he would stop buying oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates if those countries refused to send ground troops to fight ISIS:

“There’s two answers to that. The answer is, probably yes, but I would also say this: We are not being reimbursed for our protection... You know, Saudi Arabia... the amount of money they have is phenomenal. But we protect countries, and take tremendous monetary hits on protecting countries... And yet, without us, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t exist for very long. It would be, you know, a catastrophic failure without our protection."

On whether the United States should spy on its allies, and whether President Barack Obama was right to stop the listening in on Angela Merkel's cellphone:

“You know, I’d rather not say that. I would like to see what they’re doing. Because you know, many countries, I can’t say Germany, but many countries are spying on us. I think that was a great disservice done by Edward Snowden. That I can tell you.”

On whether to allow Japan and South Korea to

DONALD TRUMP, build their own nuclear arsenal:

“It’s a position that at some point is something that we have to talk about, and if the United States keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they’re going to want to have that anyway with or without me discussing it, because I don’t think they feel very secure in what’s going on with our country.”

On whether he would withdraw US forces from Japan and South Korea if those countries do not increase their payments to cover the costs of those troops:

“Yes, I would. I would not do so happily, but I would be willing to do it... We cannot afford to be losing vast amounts of billions of dollars on all of this... And I have a feeling that they'd up the ante very much. I think they would, and if they wouldn’t I would really have to say yes.”

On his standards for using US troops abroad, such as for homeland protection, for humanitarian intervention, or to aid allies:

“It sounds nice to say, ‘I have a blanket standard; here’s what it is.’ No. 1 is the protection of our country, OK? That's always going to be No. 1, by far. That’s by a factor of 100... After that it depends on the country, the region, how friendly they've been toward us. You have countries that haven't been friendly to us that we're protecting. So it’s how good they’ve been toward us, etc., etc.” NYT