For the third time in a year, the Republican frontrunner discussed Pakistan and the need to eliminate its nuclear arsenal.
Between mangled sentences and sloppy syntax, Trump managed to convey on Wednesday that Pakistan worries him a great deal, and while he has a profound distrust of the country, its instability is manageable, and he would like to keep Washington’s relationship with it on an even keel- sans its nuclear weapons.
Asked at a town-hall meeting in Indianapolis about Pakistan, Trump responded: ”Yes, but the problem with Pakistan, where they have nuclear weapons- which is a real problem.”
”And it’s not the only country, you have nine countries right now with nuclear weapons,” Trump said, adding, ”But Pakistan is semi-unstable. We don’t want to see total instability. It’s not that much, relatively speaking. We have a little bit of a good relationship. I think I’d try and keep it.”
Suggesting that precipitate or punitive action against Pakistan might see it collapse altogether, he rambled on about how ”we give them money and we help them out, but if we don’t, I think that would go on the other side of the ledger and that could really be a disaster,” before cryptically remarking, ”At the same time, if you look at India and some of the others, maybe they’ll be helping us out, because we’re going to look at it.”
In one interview, he bluntly said the U.S should stop giving any aid to Pakistan till it gets rid of its nukes. In another interview he compared it to North Korea while describing it as the most dangerous country in the world that could go rogue.
Trump’s latest remarks came hours after he delivered what was described a ”presidential” foreign policy speech in Washington DC, read out from a teleprompter to give it the form and structure that he seldom manages in his impromptu remarks.