Donald Trump said Sunday that as president, he would not have acted to protect civilians in Libya until they agreed to write a big check the U.S.

"Why aren't they paying us?" Trump asked CNN's Candy Crowley. "When they said that you should have said, we'll go in. We want $5 billion. We have already spent $1.5 billion on fighting Gaddafi. We want $5 billion right now and we'll go in. You know what? That's peanuts to them. They'd give you a check in two seconds."

The billionaire also said he was nostalgic for a time when the U.S. could claim the resources of defeated nations.

"In the old days when you have a war and you win, that nation is yours," he said. "Either I go in and take the oil or I don't go in at all."

"Just take their oil?" Crowley asked.

"Absolutely," Trump replied. "I'd take the oil, give them plenty so they can live very happily. I'd take the oil."