Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg strongly criticized the remarks made by former US President Donald Trump, who said he wouldn’t defend delinquent NATO allies in the event of his re-election, stating, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend themselves compromises our entire security, including that of the United States, and puts US soldiers and European soldiers at increased risk,” Stoltenberg said on Sunday in Brussels.
Trump speaks of Russia doing as it pleases
Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, recounted at a rally in the US state of South Carolina on Saturday an unspecified meeting with the president of a NATO member state. “One of the presidents of a major country stood up and said, ‘Sir, if we don’t pay and we are attacked by Russia, will you protect us?'”
“I said, ‘You haven’t paid, you’re in arrears?’,” Trump recounted. In that case, he wouldn’t protect the country. In fact, he would encourage Russia to do “whatever they want,” Trump said. The former president had repeatedly emphasized in the past how unfair it was for the US to stand up for the defense of the other 30 member states.
The White House reacted with outrage to Trump’s denial of the NATO mutual defense clause. “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and insane,” spokesperson Andrew Bates said on Saturday evening. Instead of calling for wars and promoting “deranged chaos,” US President Joe Biden will “continue to strengthen American leadership.”
