Trump emphasized that Washington’s initial response to such incidents should be diplomacy.
"And if that doesn’t work out, I don’t know… at a certain point, when that sucker comes by, you gotta shoot," Trump stated.
On Friday, US media reported that a Russian Su-27 jet performed a "barrel-roll" over a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane in the Baltic Sea.
Trump said on Monday that the maneuver demonstrated a lack of respect for the United States and President Barack Obama.
Flyby incidents in the Baltic Sea have been a source of tension between Russia and the United States.
Earlier this month, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov refuted a similar report and explained that the Russian military had detected an unknown aerial target heading for the Russian border at high speed. A Su-27 jet was dispatched and identified the craft as a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane, which then changed its course.
Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chair of the Russian upper-house Committee on Security and Defense, said on Saturday that the US media hyped the reports ahead of an announcement that NATO will deploy additional forces near the Russian border.
