‘That’s leadership’: Iowa voters react to Trump’s comment on being a dictator CNN — Former US President Donald Trump briefly returned as a central character in European politics earlier this week. According to the European Union’s internal market chief, Thierry Breton, Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020 that “if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” Breton’s remarks during an event at the European Parliament came less than a week before the Iowa caucuses and the start of voting in the US Republican presidential primary , which Trump is widely expected to win. They also coincided with Breton’s proposal for a €100bn fund to bolster ammunition production across the bloc – a fact not lost on his critics. Multiple EU officials and diplomats noted to CNN that his sudden recollection came at a particularly sensitive time, as the EU attempts to build its own defense capabilities outside of the US-led NATO alliance. It is no secret that ammunition stocks across NATO member states have become depleted because of Western military support for Ukraine. Whether Trump actually made these comments or not is largely immaterial to European officials. The former president’s views on America’s historic role in European security are well known. During his presidency, Trump regularly talked about defunding NATO while also complimenting authoritarian leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who are considered adversaries of the very same military alliance. Donald Trump holds up a news story about New York Attorney General Letitia James as he speaks to the media at one of his properties at 40 Wall Street following closing arguments at his civil fraud trial on January 11, 2024 in New York City. The reminder that Trump holds this view and the fact that he […]