The former president of the United States and Republican candidate to return to the White House, Donald Trump, went one step further in his criticism of NATO allied countries that do not comply with their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on Defense. “I would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell it wants to non-paying NATO allies.” Trump uttered this phrase during a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, recalling a conversation that, according to him, he had during his previous presidency with the leader of a “great European country” in NATO at a meeting between the allies.
“If we didn’t pay and were attacked by Russia, would they protect us?” this leader of the Atlantic alliance asked him, as Trump explained. “Didn’t you pay? Are you criminals? Well no, I wouldn’t protect you,” the Republican responded, remembering the scene to the applause of his faithful in South Carolina. Trump was very critical during his previous term of non-compliance with the military spending objective established by the Atlantic Alliance by most of the countries that comprise it. The NATO summits during his presidency (2017-2021) were very tense due to his constant demands to meet and even expand defense spending.
At the 2014 Wales summit it was agreed that member countries would allocate 2% of their GDP to military spending, but many of them have never fulfilled this pact. The United States not only demands compliance with the agreement, but has been asking for its extension for years. Under Trump’s mandate, he proposed doubling the commitment to military investment from 2% to 4% of GDP. In 2018, the US allocated 3.5% of its budget to Defense, but only 8 other of the 29 countries in the Alliance reached the agreed 2%. The breaches have been repeated in the following years.
Trump said on numerous occasions during his presidency that the rest of NATO countries take advantage of American military power, and even questioned the value for his country of continuing to be part of the Alliance. According to the Bloomberg agency, NATO officials, particularly European ones, are concerned about the consequences that the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House may have for the future of the Alliance. The Republican candidate is close to being the official nominee after his victories in the primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Washington was quick to censure Donald Trump’s comment “Encouraging the invasion of our closest allies by murderous regimes is egregious and unhinged, and endangers American national security, global stability and our domestic economy,” the spokesperson said. of the White House, Andrew Bates, in a statement. “Thanks to President Biden’s experienced leadership, NATO is now the largest and most vital it has ever been,” the official note concludes.
Trump’s possible return to the White House is becoming an increasingly relevant factor in the Ukraine war. “We have to solve that war and I will solve it,” Trump said at the rally, during which he also referred to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, as “the greatest salesman in history.” Zelensky said this month that “I want to believe and hope” that political changes in the United States do not mean the end of NATO aid to Ukraine, something that Trump has already suggested during his campaign, and that yesterday in South Carolina he reiterated again.