Trump's NATO Chaos
Trump's NATO Chaos
Trump says he would 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO allies who do not pay their bills, NATO chief says Trump remarks may put US and EU lives at risk
UPDATES: Donald Trump has said he would "encourage" Russia to attack any NATO member that fails to pay its bills as part of the Western military alliance.
At a rally on Saturday, he said he had once told a leader he would not protect a nation behind on its payments, and would "encourage" the aggressors to "do whatever the hell they want".
The NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg, has said any attack on the western military alliance would be met with a “united and forceful response”, after Donald Trump invited Russia to attack member countries that he perceived as not meeting their financial obligations.
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Trump says he would 'encourage' Russia to attack NATO allies who do not pay their bills
By James FitzGerald, BBC News
Donald Trump has said he would "encourage" Russia to attack any Nato member that fails to pay its bills as part of the Western military alliance.
At a rally on Saturday, he said he had once told a leader he would not protect a nation behind on its payments, and would "encourage" the aggressors to "do whatever the hell they want".
Members of Nato commit to defend any nation in the bloc that gets attacked.
The White House called the comments "appalling and unhinged".
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said any suggestion that "allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security", putting soldiers from Nato countries at risk.
Addressing crowds during the rally in South Carolina, Mr Trump said he had made his comments about Russia during a meeting of leaders of Nato countries.
He recalled that the leader of a "big country" had presented a hypothetical situation in which he was not meeting his financial obligations within Nato and had come under attack from Moscow.
Mr Trump said the leader had asked if the US would come to his country's aid in that scenario, which prompted him to issue a rebuke.
"I said: 'You didn't pay? You're delinquent?'... 'No I would not protect you, in fact I would encourage them to do whatever they want. You gotta pay.'"
A White House spokesman said the former president was "encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes" and labelled the comments "appalling and unhinged".
He added that the statement "endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home".
In a statement responding to Mr Trump's comment on Sunday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: "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.
"I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election, the US will remain a strong and committed Nato ally."
Mr Trump, the favourite to run again as the Republican candidate in this year's US presidential election, has long been critical of Nato and what he sees as an excessive financial burden on the United States to guarantee the defence of 30 other nations.
Dr Patrick Bury, a defence and security expert and former Nato analyst, told the BBC that Mr Trump was reflecting anger in the US that some European Nato countries were not spending 2% of their budget on the military, as Nato wants.
"Playing hardball with Nato allies is correct, but it all depends on how far you go. These comments are too far, really," he said.
But he said such statements had an impact at a time when Russia had put its economy onto a war footing and its military spending was outstripping that of European countries.
"If Trump is in the White House and there was a split in Nato either over Ukraine... or about how it would respond to a small incursion that should in theory trigger article five. That's where the Nato alliance is worried are these what-ifs," he said.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after Mr Trump left office. He has since bemoaned the amount of US money sent to Ukraine, which is not a Nato member.
The US has provided Ukraine with more financial support than any other country - totalling more than $44bn (£34bn) since the 2022 invasion, according to White House figures from December.
However, Republicans in Congress have since the turn of the year blocked all new funding - demanding tough measures to restrict migration into the US on its southern border, and then refusing the amended bill when it was presented earlier this week.
Mr Trump celebrated that rejection during Saturday's rally, saying the proposals made by President Biden had been "disastrous".
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Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Nato chief says Trump remarks may put US and EU lives at risk
By The Guardian
The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, has said any attack on the western military alliance would be met with a “united and forceful response”, after Donald Trump invited Russia to attack member countries that he perceived as not meeting their financial obligations.
Stoltenberg said in a statement: “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. I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election, the US will remain a strong and committed Nato ally.”
He said Nato remained “ready and able to defend all allies”.
Trump told a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday night that he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the US’s Nato allies that he felt were not paying their fair share.
The White House described the remarks as “appalling and unhinged”.
The former president has voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine as it defends itself from the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022 – as well as to the existence of Nato, the 31-nation alliance that the US has committed to defending when necessary.
On Saturday, Trump claimed that during an unspecified Nato meeting he had told a fellow head of state that the US under his leadership would not defend any countries who were “delinquent”.
“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?’ I said: ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?’” said Trump, adding: “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”
The Polish defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, wrote on X: “Nato’s motto ‘one for all, all for one’ is a concrete commitment.”
He added: “Undermining the credibility of allied countries means weakening the entire Nato. No election campaign is an excuse for playing with the security of the alliance.”
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, wrote on X that “reckless statements” on Nato’s security and solidarity only served the interests of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “They do not bring more security or peace to the world,” Michel said. “On the contrary, they re-emphasise the need for the EU to urgently further develop its strategic autonomy and invest in its defence. And to keep our alliance strong.”
The EU internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, told the French TV channel LCI that Trump’s comments on military spending by Nato members were not new. “We have heard that before … Nothing new under the sun,” he said.
Breton added that European leaders understood that the EU needed to separately boost its own military spending and capacities and defence of sovereignty. “We cannot flip a coin about our security every four years depending on this or that election, namely the US presidential election,” he said.
Breton told LCI that Trump’s account of the meeting with Nato leaders was incorrect. “There’s maybe a little problem with his memory – it was actually a female president, not of a country but of the European Union,” Breton said, referring to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and a conversation she had with Trump in 2020.
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