Trump Says He Never Promised No New Wars, and Defends Compensation Fund

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President Trump, who campaigned on a central promise to keep the United States out of overseas wars, denied in an interview aired on Sunday that he’d ever made the pledge.

“I didn’t guarantee no war,” Mr. Trump said in a lengthy interview with Kristen Welker, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” taped during his trip to Wisconsin on Friday. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

Speaking about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, he continued: “So when you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”

He did promise. As a candidate in 2024, Mr. Trump repeatedly pledged not to involve the United States in war, including on the night he won the election. “They said, ‘He will start a war,’” Mr. Trump said during his victory speech. “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”


The president also defended a proposed fund to compensate his supporters who feel they’ve been unfairly prosecuted.

Mr. Trump’s attorneys have said in court in recent days that the fund is not moving forward, but the president has continued to raise the idea of compensation for people who claim to be victims of federal overreach.

“If they get it approved, that’s great,” Mr. Trump said, an apparent reference to congressional Republicans, who have balked at the idea but have also declined to introduce legislation banning the creation of the pot of taxpayer money. “If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.”

Mr. Trump eventually ended the wide-ranging interview after being repeatedly pressed by Ms. Welker about claiming, without evidence, that recent elections in California were rigged.