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WASHINGTON – Donald Trump told North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies that he intended to encourage Russia to “do whatever it wanted” to its “delinquent” members. Trump’s claims sent shock waves across Europe last weekend.
But in Washington, most Republicans downplayed or defended comments that seemed to invite Russian invasion.
“I was here when he was president. He didn’t undermine or destroy NATO,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a longtime defense hawk.
“I think we’re going to look at what his actions are, not what his words are,” said South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds is a strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and has been a strong advocate of sending additional aid to Ukraine as it enters World War III. Years of war after the invasion of Russia.
As Trump approaches a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, his tightening grip on the Republican Party is renewing the party’s traditional position of defending its longstanding military alliance dating back to the Soviet era and its rejection of Moscow. It’s being built. Many of those who would once have reacted with alarm to NATO’s comments are largely out of step with President Trump’s priorities, or are retiring as it becomes clear that Trump’s influence remains undiminished. selected.
President Trump has a long history of disparaging the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and former administration officials say he has threatened to withdraw the United States from the alliance that has been central to American policy for decades. He allegedly threatened her repeatedly. One former adviser said he expected Trump to move forward with his threats if he wins a second term.
But allies and allies say that despite Trump’s accusations, he did not ultimately abandon NATO during his presidency, nor did they dismiss his claims as rhetoric or heavy-handed negotiating tactics. claims.
“Look at what he did in four years,” said retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served in the Trump administration and is now an outside adviser. “That’s the beauty now. Look at the track record.”
Some, including Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), credit President Trump with pressuring some countries to increase defense spending. “He kept us in NATO. He didn’t leave NATO. He let them do what they had to do,” he said.
Even outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a longtime Trump critic, questioned whether Trump was serious, saying, “People in other countries should read this document with concern and react accordingly.” “I’m calculating,” he said.
“Donald Trump’s statements are often aimed at eliciting media and applause and outrage without actually doing anything about it,” he said.
But it’s clear that Trump and those around him want to change how the alliance works. In a policy video posted on his campaign website, President Trump vowed to “complete the process begun under my administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO’s purpose and mission.”
Asked during a Fox News town hall last month whether he would commit to NATO in a possible second term, he said, “It depends on whether they treat us right.”
Kellogg is co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Institute, one of the groups helping President Trump lay the groundwork for a possible second term. He argued that Trump’s comments highlighted his longstanding grievances with countries such as Germany, which he considers to be freeloaders from the United States.
Mr. Kellogg proposes to restructure NATO as a “gradual alliance,” with Article 5 (the alliance’s collective mutual defense clause) applying only to member states that meet their defense spending obligations. That will happen. He stressed that he was talking about himself, not Trump or his campaign, and declined to say whether he had discussed the proposal with the former president.
Article 5 was only invoked after the United States was attacked by Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, now Trump’s last major rival in the race for the Republican nomination, told reporters on Monday that she was “appalled” by Trump’s comments and asked why Trump He said he wondered if he would turn against “the allies who were with us after 9/11.”
She told CNN that Trump had “spoken many times behind closed doors and in public about withdrawing from NATO.” So it’s just a fact. ”
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and now a fierce critic, said Trump would almost certainly try to withdraw from NATO if he wins a second term. .
“For those who say this is just a way for him to negotiate with NATO, I can say that I was there (almost) when he left,” he said. “He often mentioned withdrawing from NATO. … He was looking for an argument to withdraw from NATO.”
President Trump has often been criticized for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggesting cuts in aid to Ukraine in response to Russia’s offensive. However, allies of the former president believe that Russia occupied Ukrainian territory in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama’s administration, and then launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with President Joe Biden in the White House. It points out that it did.
Jason Miller, an adviser to President Trump, said, “Those who hold the pearls of the Democratic Party and the media seem to have forgotten that there were four years of peace and prosperity under President Trump, but in Europe, the Obama-Biden administration… “We saw death and destruction down there, and now we’ve seen more death and destruction under the Biden administration.”
Trump’s comments came at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, where he told a familiar story aimed at demonstrating his negotiating skills. He told how an unidentified NATO member had threatened to not defend members of the Atlantic Alliance if they failed to meet the group’s defense spending target of 2% of annual gross domestic product.
Nineteen countries are below that threshold, which President Trump often distorts as a requirement for direct payments to allies.
“I said, ‘Didn’t you pay? Are you a delinquent?'” Trump recalled telling the person. ‘Yes, that’s right.’ Let’s just say that happened.”
President Trump said, “No, I’m not going to protect you,” and added, “In fact, I want to encourage them to do whatever they want. You have to pay the bills. You have to pay the bills.” not.”
It remains unclear whether the conversation Trump described Saturday actually took place. The former president has a long history of fabrications and exaggerations. Aides declined to answer questions about the conversation.
However, at a forum in Brussels last month, French European Commission President Thierry Breton said that President Trump had made similar remarks in 2020 and that NATO European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, NATO is dead,” he recalled, saying that the United States would not defend the European Union if attacked. .
“Donald Trump told Ursula, ‘If Europe was under attack, we would never help you and support you,'” Breton said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “You need to understand that you can’t do that.”
According to Breton newspaper, President Trump also said, “By the way, NATO is dead. We’re leaving, and NATO is leaving.”
Whether or not it happened as President Trump said, the statement immediately caused panic across Europe, which continues to fight Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued an unusually critical statement on Sunday, saying, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines our overall security, including that of the United States, and “This will put European soldiers at risk.” Biden, meanwhile, said NATO’s safeguards “keep American families safe” and that “individuals who question the permanence of that commitment are a danger to our national security.”
But Rubio, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was not concerned.
“He didn’t talk about anything about the future. What he talked about was telling stories, parables, whatever you want to call it, about the way NATO worked in the past,” the president said. said the senator who led the effort to include a clause prohibiting NATO withdrawal. without Senate approval or Congressional legislation in the latest defense policy bill.
“The truth of the matter is that NATO is stronger today than it’s ever been. Even if Trump had somehow weakened NATO as a leader, that wouldn’t have been the case,” Rubio said.
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