Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said on Saturday he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” against NATO countries that do not meet their military spending obligations – hinting that he would not comply with the alliance’s collective defense clause if re-elected.
The former president and current GOP frontrunner spoke at a campaign rally held in Conway, South Carolina, ahead of the Feb. 24 Republican primary, receiving applause from those in attendance.
“NATO was busted until I came along,” said the New York-born tycoon. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”
“No, I would not protect you (from a Russian aggression)”, Trump claims to have told “one of the presidents of a big country”. He added that, “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”
This is an ironic statement coming from a man who is notorious for never paying his own bills.
His statements have certainly not gone unnoticed, especially in the midst of a bloody war in the heart of Europe. A few hours later, the White House defined Trump’s remarks “appalling and unhinged”.
“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.
This is the first explicit warning about Trump’s possible non-use of the well-known Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which establishes a duty of collective defense. In essence, any attack on one NATO member country is considered an attack on all members of the alliance.
Trump has long complained that the United States spends far more on defense as a proportion of GDP than Washington’s allies – who he says are taking the U.S. military umbrella for granted. Most alliance countries, in fact, do not meet the guideline of spending at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
As president, Trump has often privately threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO, according to The New York Times, calling the alliance “obsolete.”
