Donald Trump declared that if he is re-elected president he will “encourage” Russia to “do whatever it wants” to any NATO member that does not pay enough for its defense.
Speaking Saturday at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, the former president recalled that a leader of a “big country” asked if the United States could come to their aid if they did not pay their fair share of defense spending within NATO. and they had been affected. Attack from Moscow.
“I said, ‘Didn’t you pay? Are you a criminal? …’No, I wouldn’t protect you, in fact, I would encourage them to do whatever they wanted. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills,’” Trump said.
NATO countries are committed to defending any member of the bloc that comes under attack, although the countries do not pay NATO directly, prompting the White House to reprimand the former president’s comments.
In a statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates called the comment “appalling and deranged.”
Donald Trump said that as president he warned NATO allies that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever they want” during a rally in South Carolina on Saturday. Getty Images U.S. President Joe Biden is surrounded by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and leaders of NATO countries, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on July 12, 2023. AP
“Encouraging the invasion of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged, and endangers American national security, global stability and our domestic economy,” Bates said.
Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, has long questioned the value of NATO, which he sees as an undue financial burden on the United States and something he even threatened to abandon during his 2016 campaign.
The former president has also taken issue with the amount of money the United States has sent to Ukraine (which is not a NATO country) amid its ongoing war with Russia. Many took to social media to criticize Trump’s support for Russia (and efforts to leave NATO), calling Trump’s words “crazy.”
Former President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Germany on July 7, 2017. AP
“Donald Trump says a lot of crazy things and has made it clear that democracy is an obstacle to his quest for power,” wrote New York Democratic Representative Daniel Goldman. “But his statement that he would leave NATO and support Vladimir Putin – who is aligned with China and Iran – is a flashing red light.” Michael McFaul, a political science professor at Stanford University, wrote: “This is crazy.” “And 8 years later, Trump shows that he STILL doesn’t understand how NATO works! It is not a protection business. They don’t pay us to protect them. Wow”.
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Earlier on Saturday, Trump called for an end to “NO TIES” foreign aid, arguing that the United States should make changes to the way it provides money to its allies abroad.
“FROM THIS POINT, ARE YOU LISTENING TO THE US SENATE (?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS MADE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIFT,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social in all caps.
Former President Donald Trump and then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meet at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2019. AP Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands during a ceremony at the White House on Sept. 24. April 2018. AP
Trump added that money could be loaned “IN EXTRAORDINARY GOOD CONDITIONS,” without interest and without a payment date.
But he noted that “IF THE COUNTRY WE ARE HELPING EVER TURNS AGAINST US, OR GETS RICH AT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE, THE LOAN WILL BE PAID OFF AND THE MONEY WILL BE RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES.”
NATO reported in 2022 that seven of 31 members were in compliance with their financial obligations, up from three in 2014.
Trump has often tried to take credit for the surge, including on Saturday when he boasted that as a result of his threats, “hundreds of billions of dollars flowed into NATO,” even though countries do not pay NATO directly.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn