Trump: 'Why didn't France do a thing earlier?'

By Gabby Morrongiello, Gabby Morrongiello

Published December 20, 2015

Just days after French President Francois Hollande vowed to wage a "merciless" war against Islamic State militants in the wake of the terrorist group's attacks against Paris, Donald Trump wondered why the European country has waited until now to intensify its involvement.

France joined the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq in mid-September when it launched a series of airstrikes against insurgents in the region. On Oct. 8, the country again launched airstrikes in the area, this time against a training camp for Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria.

Nevertheless, Trump suggested Tuesday that "all of a sudden France is engaged."

"Why is it that France got engaged now? They knew about these training centers that they blew up, they blew them up right after the attack," the Republican presidential candidate told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.

"Why didn't they do it a year ago? Why didn't they do a thing earlier?" he asked.