Robert O’Brien, the National Security Advisor to former President Donald Trump, once again argued on the 23rd that South Korea needs to increase its defense cost-sharing, insisting on its insufficiency.
Appearing on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” O’Brien stated, “America can’t do this alone. The American taxpayer can’t deter China – China alone. We need help from our allies.” He noted that Trump urged South Korea, Japan, and European allies to pay their fair share during his term. When the host pointed out that “they already were helping to pay for some of the costs related to housing those troops in their countries,” O’Brien responded, “Some of the costs, but not enough.”
He continued, “So the American taxpayers took a tremendous burden. So, we need our allies to step up and participate like we do. We pay almost 4% of our GDP for defense.”
He also mentioned, “And we’re- and it’ll go back again with- President Trump when he returns in six months.” O’Brien stated, “So sometimes you have to be tough. You have to show tough love to your allies. And just like with family members.”
Regarding how to prevent China’s invasion of Taiwan, he said, “But the key thing is peace through strength. If we move our soldiers and Marines out of Europe, in Germany, where they’re garrisoned, and put them in Guam and Hawaii and the Philippines, Australia, where we have Marines already, that sends a strong message to the Chinese not to invade. The key is to deter war, not- not to fight and win a war, which we need to do if it happens.”
In response to a question about a strategy to divide the so-called axis of evil (countries opposing the U.S.-led international order), mainly Russia, O’Brien pointed out, “And that alliance has gotten much stronger under the Biden administration because there’s been a lack of American leadership.”
He continued, “So the first thing we can do is increase our energy production in America. These countries are relying on Russian energy to run their economies.“
He also emphasized, “We need to sanction the Russian Federation Central Bank,…, and start cutting back on Russian oil sales.” and “We need to put maximum pressure back on the Iranians who are causing so much trouble throughout the Middle East.”
O’Brien continued to stress, “We need to bring Vladimir Putin (Russian President) to the table. And the way to do that is what Larry Kudlow and I called for and what President Trump has called for, is to put massive sanctions on the Russians to bring Putin to the table, so we kind of negotiated a peace treaty.“
“We’ve got to stop the killing in Ukraine. We got to stop the killing of Ukrainians. We got to stop the killing of Russians,” he added.
He noted that the ongoing efforts were ineffective in addressing the war in Ukraine, highlighting a perceived lack of leadership under the Biden administration. He suggested that Trump would quickly resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
O’Brien served as the White House’s National Security Advisor from September 2019 until the end of Trump’s term.
There are predictions that O’Brien will be reappointed as National Security Advisor or appointed Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense if Trump returns to the White House in the upcoming November election.