2024 CNN Town Hall: on War & Peace

Chris Christie: Support for Ukraine is really a proxy war with China

If I were President Zelenskyy, I'd want everything too. But there's going to come a point, if Ukraine is aggressive enough and we're giving them the arms and support that they need, that both Ukraine and Russia are going to understand that it's time to end the killing and there may have to be some kind of compromise. That's what we should be in the middle of trying to foster, once we get in a position where Ukraine can protect the land that's been taken by Russia in this latest incursion.

Donald Trump: Claims he could end Russia/Ukraine war in 24 hours

TRUMP: Because we're giving away so much equipment, we don't want have ammunition for ourselves right now. But I were president, this would have never happened. Now, here's the problem. We've given so far $171 billion. The European Union, which is approximately the same size altogether as our economy, they've given about $20 billion.

Q: But would you give Ukraine weapons and funding if you were elected?

TRUMP: If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours.

Q: How?

TRUMP: I'll meet with Putin, I'll meet with Zelenskyy. And within 24 hours, that war with be settled. It'll be over.

Q: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?

TRUMP: I don't think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled, so stop killing all these people.

Nikki Haley: War in Ukraine is about freedom--one we have to win

So when you're dealing with Russia and China, I'll give you an example. The Russian plane knocked down our U.S. drone a couple of weeks ago. Remember that? What do we do about it? Nothing. You know what I would have done if I was president? Put two drones up there in a fighter jet and put our naval fleet back in the Black Sea because it never should have left in the first place.

Nikki Haley: Never should have lifted terrorist label from Houthis

HALEY: Keep in mind, there would be no Houthis without Iran. There wouldn't be Hamas without Iran. And what truly fueled Iran was when Biden fell all over himself to get back into the Iran deal. When he lifted the sanctions on Iran, it was the most dangerous thing he could have done. When he lifted the terrorist label off the Houthis, that was another thing he never should have done. When Iran and their proxies get cash, it goes to fuel terrorism. And now we have that area of the Red Sea. That's a dramatic part of our global supply chain. And so now that they have started causing trouble there, you know, what we're seeing Biden do is now he's like, "uh-oh, we're going to go put the terrorist designation back on them." And now even if he put the sanctions back on Iran, it's going to take a while to do that.

Nikki Haley: In Afghanistan way too long; never negotiate with Taliban

HALEY: I think that there's a little bit of fault to go around to all sides. The pressure by the American public to get out of wars was important. We had been in Afghanistan way too long. My husband served in Afghanistan; they will tell you, "you can't go and build a new country." And I think that was a terrible mistake. But when you know you want to pull back, you do it in a way that's smart and sensible. Biden wanted to hit it by a certain date. He wanted to do it by September 11.

Q: Trump ultimately negotiated with the Taliban.

HALEY: What Trump did, we never want to see Taliban on U.S. soil ever. No agreement, no anything. I don't want them at Camp David or anywhere. I think it was a mistake to even try and negotiate with the Taliban because this is a group that you can't negotiate with.

Nikki Haley: Palestinians don't want a 2-state solution; but "maybe"

HALEY: When I was at the U.N., the two-state solution came up over and over again. And Israel always showed up at the table. The Palestinians always rejected the two-state solution, because they want a one-state solution. The Palestinians don't want Israel to exist. We saw that over and over again. Any discussions we had with them, the Palestinian Authority doesn't want to negotiate with Israel. So all the heat always goes to Israel and people always forget the fact that the Palestinians are saying "no" at every breath. When the Palestinians demand anything, Israel has every right to demand security. Israel has every right to say we don't want terrorists on our border. And so will there ever be a two-state solution? Maybe. But Israel has to defend themselves first.

Ron DeSantis: Hold military leaders accountable for Afghanistan debacle

DESANTIS: I don't support a draft. Our recruiting is at the lowest level since the end of the Vietnam War when they got rid of the draft. I think the way you solve that problem is to inspire young people to want to join. I do think when they see commander-in-chief hold the brass accountable, because no one's been held accountable for Afghanistan, not one person has been held accountable for one of the worst military debacles in American history. When they see us getting rid of some of the social stuff and the woke ideology, saying, "no, it's about mission first," and you're going to be promoted based on merit, that, I think, inspires people to want to join. You know, when you join the military, you want to know that the people in charge of both the civilian and military levels are only going to pursue the mission. And they're not going to let these other considerations cloud that out.