During his election campaign, Donald Trump said he has no intention of withdrawing the country from the North Atlantic Alliance if European countries pay their dues “fairly”. Speaking on GB News TV, he stressed that America should bear its fair share of defense costs within the alliance without imposing obligations on others.
Trump compared NATO’s importance to Europe to its importance to the US, pointing to America’s geographical distance from European problems thanks to the Atlantic Ocean.
“There is a big and beautiful ocean between us and European problems,” Trump said in stating his position on defense spending allocation.
In February, at a meeting in South Carolina, Trump said he would not defend NATO countries that fail to fulfill their financial obligations to the alliance. Trump also said he would encourage Russia to “do whatever it wants” with countries that don’t pay their bills.
After Trump’s remarks, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, assured that the alliance is ready to defend all its members. Joe Biden called Trump’s rhetoric dangerous. At the same time, Josep Borrell, head of EU foreign policy, called for strengthening Europe’s defense capabilities, given that “the American umbrella may not always be open.”
