2024 FactCheck: on War & Peace

Donald Trump: I beat ISIS in literally three months; knocked them out

A: They have chaos at the border. They have chaos in the military. People are going woke. We have the greatest military in the world except for the top where they want to turn this beautiful thing we built. We beat ISIS, knocked them out. It was supposed to take four years. I did it in literally three months. It was supposed to take four or five years.

[Did Trump's 2017-2018 actions in Iraq knock out ISIS?] Fact Check by American Enterprise Institute, 9/11/23: "ISIS remains resilient and has sustained a low-level insurgency in Iraq while conducting targeted attacks in Syria, especially against prisons to release key operatives. It has particularly strengthened in central Syria. Iraqi counterterrorism pressure has suppressed, but not eliminated, the ISIS threat."

Donald Trump: Russia can do what they want to unpaid-up NATO members

CNN FactCheck 2/10/24: "NATO was busted until I came along," Trump said at a rally in South Carolina. "I said, 'Everybody's gonna pay.' They said, 'Well, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us?' I said, 'Absolutely not.' They couldn't believe the answer." Trump said "one of the presidents of a big country" asked him whether the US would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they "don't pay."

"No, I would not protect you," Trump recalled telling that president. "In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills." [Conclusion: Yes, Trump said Russia could do what they want, but only to NATO members who didn't pay their bills.]