Trump Complains About Anti-Terror Sanctions In Q&A: ‘You’re Losing Iran You’re Losing Russia’

Former President Donald Trump complained about anti-terrorism and other international sanctions, saying he’d use them as little as possible and singling out Russia and Iran.

Trump gave remarks and answered questions Thursday at an event for the New York Economic Club, during which he attracted widespread derision for his answer to a question about childcare.

But in another portion of the Q&A, was asked about international sanctions, and responded at length about his distaste for them, claiming they pose a risk to the U.S. dollar’s status as the world currency:

HENRY RODGIN COHEN: I would like to ask about the United States and its sanctions programs. These programs have been used, as you well know, to advance our national security interests. Our foreign policy objectives. But they also have economic implications.

And the most recent was the program against Russia in response to the Ukrainian the (inaudible) of Ukraine, where for once we got the support of all our allies.

So my specific question is, would you strengthen or modify any of these economic sanctions programs, particularly Russia, including the pipeline you mentioned?

DONALD TRUMP: Oh, it’s a great question. The problem with what we have with sanctions, and I was using the sanctions, but I put them on and take them off as quickly as possible, because ultimately it kills your dollar and it kills everything the dollar represents. And we have to continue to have that be the world currency. I think it’s important. I think we’d be losing a war.

If we lost and we lost the dollar as much as the world currency, I think that would be the equivalent of losing a war. That would make us a third-world country. We can’t let it happen.

So I use sanctions very powerfully against countries that deserve it. And then I take them off because, look, you’re losing Iran. You’re losing Russia. China is out there trying to get their currency to be the dominant currency, as you know better than anybody.

All of these things are happening. You’re losing so many countries because there’s so much conflict with all of these countries that you’re going to lose that, and we can’t lose that.

So I want to use sanctions as little as possible.