Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out remaining committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if elected for a second term and accused European countries of exploiting the United States through trade and strategic relations.
“Will you remain committed to NATO in Trump’s second term?” Fox News host Bret Baier asked the former Republican president in a public debate.
“It depends on whether they treat us properly,” Trump said.
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Look, NATO took advantage of our country. European countries…first in terms of trade and then in terms of military protection.
The debate took place at the same time as another debate in which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tried to emerge as the obvious alternatives to Trump, days before the first votes of the primary campaign were cast.
Trump’s comments on NATO came a day after a senior European Union (EU) official claimed that Trump told him during his presidency that the United States would never help if Europe was attacked. According to Thierry Breton, the French commissioner for the European Union’s internal market, Trump made the remarks to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020.
“You must understand that if Europe is attacked, we will never come to your aid and support you,” Breton quoted Trump as saying during the Davos meeting.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Renew Europe political party in the European Parliament, Breton reported that Trump also said, “By the way, NATO is dead and we will leave, we will withdraw from NATO.”
“By the way, you owe me 400 billion dollars because you Germans didn’t pay what you should have paid for defense,” Breton quoted Trump as saying.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump repeatedly clashed with traditional allies over trade and defense spending, while at the same time complaining that NATO owed the United States repayments and that member states were not fulfilling the financial part of their alliance responsibilities. Many of these claims were untrue.
NATO is not a club where members lose their rights if they do not pay their monthly dues.
Aaron O’Connell, a former National Security Council staff member in the Barack Obama administration, told NPR that NATO does not have a ledger that tracks member contributions.
When Trump laments that NATO member states have failed to meet their defense spending targets, he is referring to a commitment made by NATO members in 2014. According to this commitment, member states agreed to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024. Currently, only 9 out of 29 members spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense.
Trump is the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, and polls predict a tight race against President Joe Biden in the November vote.
Agencies were also utilized.
