EU/FOREIGN AID/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UKRAINE: “WHAT TRUMP SAID ‘But my complaint has always been and I’ll withhold again and I’ll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine because they’re not doing it. Just the United States. We’re putting up the bulk of the money. And I’m asking why is that.’ — in remarks to reporters before the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Tuesday [9-24-19]. This is exaggerated. President Trump was responding to reports that he had directed his staff to freeze military aid to Ukraine before he pressed the country’s president to investigate unsubstantiated corruption allegations involving former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. But Mr. Trump is wrong that other countries do not contribute to Ukraine’s efforts to counteract Russian aggression in recent years. Aid across different countries is difficult to compare, as there is no single publicly accessible source that aggregates all forms of assistance. And some sources of data shows that the European Union has actually provided more aid to Ukraine than the United States.”
–Linda Qiu, “Trump’s Misleading Defense for Withholding Assistance to Ukraine,” The New York Times online, September 24, 2019