© REUTERS
Trump speaks at a campaign rally ahead of the South Carolina Republican Party presidential primary in Conway. February 10, 2024
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Donald Trump has said he will “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member that does not pay its bills as part of the Western military alliance. The White House called the comments “shocking and abnormal.”
At a campaign rally on Saturday, February 10, the former US president and candidate for the post this year told how he once told a leader of another country that he would not defend a nation that was behind in its payments and would “encourage” aggressors to “do whatever the hell they want”.
Addressing supporters in South Carolina, Trump said he made his comments about Russia during a meeting of NATO leaders in response to a hypothetical situation presented by the leader of a “major country” – that country defaults on its financial obligations within NATO and was attacked by Moscow.
I will never defend Europe, Trump said according to EU commissioner
According to Trump, the leader asked if the US would come to his country’s aid in that scenario, prompting him to issue a rebuke:
“I said, ‘You didn’t pay? You’re guilty?… No, I’m not going to defend you, in fact I’d encourage them to do whatever they want. You have to pay.’
By joining NATO, each member state committed itself to the principle of collective defense as stated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against all of them. Each member is therefore obliged to assist the attacked nation by taking such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
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A White House spokesman said the former president was “encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes” and called the comments “appalling and abnormal”. And he added that the statement “threatens American national security, global stability and our economy at home.”
Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination in this year’s US presidential election in November, has long criticized NATO and what he says is an excessive financial burden on the United States to ensure the defense of 30 other nations.
Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 after Trump left office. He has since complained about the amount of US money sent to non-NATO Ukraine, the BBC notes.
According to White House data since December, the US has provided Ukraine with more financial support than any other single country, totaling more than $44 billion since the invasion in 2022 (for comparison, the EU and its member states have provided more than $96 billion . dollars of financial, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, including $47 billion in financial and budgetary support).
There is a great danger of war between the EU and Russia, the Austrian Armed Forces believe
Since the start of the year, however, Republicans in Congress have blocked any new funding, demanding strict measures to limit migration to the US along its southern border, and rejected an amended bill when it was introduced earlier this week.
Trump celebrated that rejection at a rally on Saturday, saying the proposals made by President Biden were “disastrous.” The two issues have now been successfully separated, meaning senators can now discuss aid money separately.
Politico recently reported how at Davos 2020 Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: “If Europe is attacked, we will never come to your rescue and support you.” “Politico” refers to one of the most senior members of the European Commission – the European Commissioner responsible for the internal market, Thierry Breton.
“By the way, NATO is dead and we’re going to leave, we’re going to leave NATO. Oh, and by the way, you owe me $400 billion because you, the Germans, are not paying what you should be paying for defense,” Trump also said according to Breton.
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