President Trump says Russia will “do whatever it wants” to NATO countries that don’t pay their share

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday referred to a conversation he had as president, telling Russia to “do whatever they want” if they attack NATO countries that don’t pay enough for their defense. He said he would encourage it.

President Trump told supporters in South Carolina about an exchange he had with a president of a “great power” who asked if they would be protected if Russia attacked. Trump said he told the leader that the bloc could not be defended unless the U.S. government paid its fair share of defense costs.

“No, I won’t protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever they want to do. You have to pay. The bills have to be paid,” President Trump said. Ta.

President Trump made the remarks during a rally on the campus of Costal Carolina University. This comes as Russia continues its war in Ukraine and some North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states have expressed concerns that Russia is considering expanding into other countries. is.

The alliance was formed in 1949 for the purpose of collective defense against the Soviet Union. Union. A feature of this agreement is that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

President Trump has long been dissatisfied with NATO, arguing with leaders of member nations and threatening to pull the U.S. out of NATO over a demand that members meet a goal of spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. He is reported to have been threatening.

A report released last year found that at the time, only 11 of the 30 member states spent more than 2% of their GDP on defense. Finland applied for NATO membership last year after concerns about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it shares a border with.

Since taking office, President Joe Biden has sought to reaffirm America’s commitment to NATO, in stark contrast to his Republican predecessor.

Last month, Biden signed an $886 billion defense bill that prohibits the president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO, a move that Trump said would “fundamentally” reassess “NATO’s purpose and NATO’s mission.” could hinder the country’s 2024 election promise.

When asked about President Trump’s recent comments regarding NATO, White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, “Encouraging a brutal regime to invade its closest allies is horrific, anarchic, and illegal,” according to a Reuters report. “This poses a threat to U.S. national security, global stability, and the domestic economy.”

In addition to the NATO comments, President Trump also bragged Saturday about his recent failure to pass a bipartisan border agreement.

“We crushed Joe Biden’s crooked and disastrous border deal. Mike Johnson did a very good job,” Trump said, referring to the Republican leader and his opposition to the bill.

The failure to pass the border bill comes after reports that President Trump wants his party to veto the bill in hopes of using the crisis at the southern border as a political tool toward his re-election bid in November. It was something.