Republicans and foreign leaders are agog at comments made by Donald Trump after the former president said he would “encourage” Russia to attack America’s NATO allies iff a they fail to commit two percent of their GDP to military spending.
Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack the NATO military alliance in five to eight years and Polish War Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz claimed likely escalation of the ongoing violence in Ukraine makes war with Russia imminent.
During a recent interview with the German outlet Der Tagesspiegel, Pistorius said “our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this [attack] could be possible.”
In an interview with the Polish newspaper Super Express, the conservative Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed the need for Poland to prepare for any scenario, taking the potential for conflict with Russia very seriously.
At a rally in South Carolina on Saturday night, Trump recounted a conversation with an unnamed head of state about how he would respond if a NATO member who had not paid enough money for its defense was attacked by Russia.
‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’” Trump said.
“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Trump recounted responding. ‘“No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member country that didn’t meet its financial obligations to the defense alliance, in remarks that the White House repudiated as “appalling and unhinged.”
There have been growing worries in Europe over the reliability of the decades-old U.S. commitment to European security — highlighted by the partisan gridlock in Washington over a crucial aid package to U.S. ally Ukraine — but Trump’s words are forcing Europeans to seriously consider an end to the transatlantic alliance.
“These are the words of a serious candidate for president so they should be treated seriously,” said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Zalewski. “If we do that, then it means a change to the logic of the U.S. presence in NATO. It is very worrying. He correctly calls on member countries to spend more on defense, but he also calls on Russia to attack. This is completely incomprehensible.”
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, might not abide by NATO’s collective-defense clause for members that haven’t paid enough.
Trump’s comments were roundly criticized by officials across Europe.
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “I expect the U.S. to remain a strong and devoted ally of NATO, whoever wins the presidential election.”
European Council President Charles Michel called Trump’s remarks “reckless” and said they “serve only Putin’s interest.” Germany’s foreign ministry said: “‘One for all and all for one’ — This NATO creed keeps more than 950 million people safe.”
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“Donald Trump’s admission that he intends to give [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous,” Biden said in a statement on February 11.
Hours earlier, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said that “encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged — and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.”
The White House also blasted the comments as endangering security and stability. “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged — and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.
A POLITICO report last month revealed that Trump had told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020 that the U.S. wouldn’t come to Europe’s defense if it was attacked. Trump alleged NATO countries subsequently spent “billions and billions” of dollars on their defenses in the wake of his threat — a claim that has not been substantiated.
Trump’s remarks come as the Biden administration and Republicans in the U.S. Congress remain at odds over a $95.3 billion military aid package, $60 billion of which is for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.
Stoltenberg on Saturday warned about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s belligerence and its implications for the Continent. “If Putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee that Russian aggression will not spread to other countries,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag.
“We have to prepare ourselves for a confrontation that could last decades,” Stoltenberg said.
Trump’s comments also show a misunderstanding of how NATO functions, There is no centralized budget that countries pay into. Rather, each country pays for its own defense; with an alliance-wide commitment to spend at least 2 percent of GDP by this year.
During his presidential term, Trump – who was defeated by Biden in the 2020 election – often expressed doubts about the need for NATO and repeatedly threatened to pull out of the alliance if members did not pay what he considered their fair share for their defense.
NATO allies in 2014 agreed to set a goal toward spending 2 percent of their national GDPs on defense by 2024, a target only a few European members have so far met but which they vow to do so in the near future.
Article 5 is considered the hallmark of the NATO alliance, stating that an armed attack against one member would be considered an attack against all and would trigger collective self-defense action.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on February 11 wrote on the social media platform X that “NATO’s motto ‘one for all, all for one’ is a concrete commitment. Undermining the credibility of allied countries means weakening the entire North Atlantic Treaty Organization.”
“No election campaign is an excuse for playing with the Alliances’ security,” he added.
The German Foreign Ministry posted a message on X stating: “’One for all and all for one.’ This NATO creed keeps more than 950 million people safe — from Anchorage to Erzurum.”
EU Council President Charles Michel called Trump’s statements “reckless” and said that such attacks on “NATO’s security and [Article] 5 solidarity serve only Putin’s interest.”
“[Such remarks] do not bring more security or peace to the world.”
U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a vocal Trump supporter, defended the ex-president’s remarks, saying Trump was simply “telling a story” about a past event.
However, Nikki Haley, Trump’s former UN ambassador and now a rival for the Republican nomination, criticized the remarks, saying the ex-president was taking Putin’s side.
“What bothers me about this is: Don’t take the side of a thug who kills his opponents. Don’t take the side of someone who has gone in and invaded a country and half a million people have died or been wounded,” Haley told CBS.
“Now, we do want NATO allies to pull their weight but there are ways you can do that without sitting there and telling Russia, have your way with these countries. That’s not what we want,” she said.
Speaking at a campaign event held in a Bavarian beer tent, the German Chancellor emphasised the need for friendly relations with the US, Britain and Russia, but added: “We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.”
Speaking at a campaign event held in a Bavarian beer tent, the emphasised the need for friendly relations with the US, Britain and Russia, but added: “We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.”
In 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested Germany and Europe can no longer rely on the US under Donald Trump, saying, “We Europeans must take our destiny into our own hands.”
Merkel said that as the traditional western alliance is threatened by the new US presidency and Brexit, “the times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over.”
“He doesn’t talk like a traditional politician,” Rubio told CNN.