FORMER US President Donald Trump warned NATO allies that he would ‘encourage’ Russia to do ‘whatever they want’ to ‘delinquent’ countries who don’t ‘pay their bills’.
Trump said this at a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina on Saturday.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said: Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You’ve got to pay!” Donald Trump, Former U.S. President stated.
The presumptive Republican candidate in November’s presidential elections went on to claim that ‘hundreds of billions of dollars’ have flooded into the alliance because of ‘what he did’, and that he had heard from NATO members that they ‘like Obama better’.
“I said: ‘No, no, you have to understand. If you don’t pay your bills, you get no protection, it’s very simple.’ Hundreds of billions of dollars came into NATO, and that’s why they have money today, because of what I did. And then I hear that they like Obama better, they should like Obama better, you know why? Because he didn’t ask for anything. We were like the stupid country of the world, and we’re not going to be the stupid country of the world any longer,” Trump added.
During his term as president, Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw US support for NATO, claiming that his country was paying more than its share.
Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates issued a swift rebuttal of Trump’s comments on Saturday, saying that NATO is now the largest and most vital it has ever been thanks to the leadership of President Joe Biden.
“Thanks to President Biden’s experienced leadership, NATO is now the largest and most vital it has ever been,” Andrew Bates, White House spokesperson said.
White House criticizes ‘appaling, unhinged’ remarks of Trump
Bates also described Trump’s remarks as ‘appalling and unhinged’.
“Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged and it endangers American national security,” Bates added.
In 2014, NATO allies agreed to suspend previously agreed spending cuts after the Cold War and pledged to commit 2 percent of GDP to defense by 2024.
The bloc claimed that seven-member states had reached the goal as of 2022 and just 10 of their 30 member-countries had met those obligations as of 2023, with 13 spending 1.5% of GDP or less.
NATO Chief says Trump’s remarks puts alliance at risk
Trump’s remarks met condemnation from NATO Secretary General Yens Stoltenberg, who responded that,
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” said NATO Secretary General Yens Stoltenberg.
“The NATO chief reiterated that the bloc remained ready and able to defend all of its allies and that any attack on a NATO member country would trigger a united and forceful response,” Stoltenberg added.
“I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election, the US will remain a strong and committed NATO ally,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, following Trump’s remarks at the rally, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed concern about the “hot war” at his country’s border with Ukraine.
He also questioned whether the US would show its full solidarity with NATO in this confrontation that vows to last for a long time against Russia, although President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said his country is not interested in attacking any NATO country.
Just last week, Putin told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson that the West was trying to intimidate their own population with what he calls as an imaginary Russian threat.
