NATO not to defend US if attacked, Trump says
4 Min Read
Former US President Donald Trump says NATO would not defend the United States were it to be attacked, citing his knowledge of the alliance and its leaders.
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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event, January 27, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States. (AP)
Former US President Donald Trump on Sunday emphasized his doubts that NATO would come to the United States' rescue were it to come under attack in further criticism of the alliance that he has always shown disdain for.
Trump is essentially casting doubt on Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which stipulates collective defense in the event of an armed attack on a member state, saying he did not think the alliance would commit and help his country out.
"We're paying for NATO, and we don't get so much out of it. If we ever needed their help, let's say we were attacked, I don't believe they'd be there. I know the people," he said, addressing a large crowd of supporters.
The former US President has long been at odds with NATO, going as far as calling it obsolete during his first year in office and criticizing key US-allied NATO members, particularly Germany, for not spending more on defense. According to former National Security Advisor John Bolton, the US was ready to exit the alliance in 2018.
As part of his rant about NATO, Trump went on to criticize US President Joe Biden's decision to provide military aid to Ukraine in the ongoing war. "We don't have ammunition for ourselves, [yet] we're giving away so much," he argued.
Trump could collapse NATO
A report from The New York Times published in December cited EU diplomats and think tank officials to determine whether Trump would withdraw the US from NATO if re-elected.
Anonymous sources told The New York Times that "European ambassadors and think tank officials have been making pilgrimages to associates of Mr. Trump to inquire about his intentions."
Finland's ambassador to the US, Mikko Hautala, reportedly spoke to Trump and "sought to persuade him of his country's value to NATO as a new member."
Other nations are anticipated to try to gain Trump's favor through "flattery and transactional tributes," according to The Times, citing talks with current and former diplomats.
Trump has not threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO but raged against the bloc's European members, accusing them of freeloading on the US enormous military presence on the continent, while failing to achieve NATO's 2% of GDP defense budget objective.
24 hours for ceasefire
He went on to pledge that he would put an end to the ongoing Ukraine war within "24 hours" were he to be re-elected, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky dismissed earlier as unrealistic.
Trump is echoing a similar statement he made last year when he claimed that he could have influenced a cessation of the war in Ukraine within 24 hours by negotiation if he were still president, adding that the war would not have happened if he were still in his position.
"If I were president, the Russia/Ukraine war would never have happened, but even now, if president, I would be able to negotiate an end to this horrible and rapidly escalating war within 24 hours," Trump said on the Truth Social platform.
Upon being asked if Trump would support Ukraine were he to take office back in November, Zelensky responded by saying, "Really, I don't know."
This comes at a time when Trump is leading the Republican polls, making recent victories in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, which gave him momentum against his only remaining foe, former US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, who is still in the race after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis withdrew from it earlier in the week.
