Europe fears his return to the White House.
Trump at a rally in South Carolina, last night/Reuters
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Former United States President Donald Trump said tonight (Sunday) that he would "encourage" Russia to invade any NATO member that does not meet its financial obligations to the alliance. His words were strongly condemned by the White House, and illustrated the uncertainty that is expected to prevail among the Western alliance if he wins In a second term in the presidential election in November,
Trump, who is close to securing the nomination of the Republican Party, at a rally in South Carolina, refused to continue military aid to Ukraine and cast doubt on the existence of NATO, of which the United States is the main power base.
Even during his first term, he did not promise to comply with Article 5 of the alliance charter - a principle according to which any attack on a member of the alliance is considered an attack on the entire alliance.
He said that during a NATO summit he told one of the heads of state that the United States under his leadership would not defend any "criminal" country. Will you protect us?'" Trump said and added: "I said, 'You didn't pay, are you a criminal?'
No, I wouldn't defend you.
In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.
you have to pay
You have to pay your bills'".
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in response to Trump's words that "encouraging invasions by murderous regimes into our closest allies is appalling and insane, and endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home."
He added that President Biden will restore Washington's alliances in the world when he takes office in 2021, promising that NATO is now "the largest and most vital it has ever been." "Instead of calling for wars and promoting maddened chaos, President Biden will continue to strengthen American leadership and stand for Our national security interests - not against them," said his spokesman.
During his presidency, Trump threatened to withdraw from NATO, cut the alliance's defense funding and repeatedly complained that the United States pays more than it needs.
However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last month that he does not believe he will leave the North Atlantic alliance if he is indeed elected for a second term, a scenario that is causing great concern across Europe.
Stoltenberg, who is pushing member states to increase defense spending, said European allies are increasing their military contributions and "moving in the right direction."
But last month, Trump said during a political rally that he did not believe NATO members would come to the aid of the United States if it were attacked.
Regarding Russia's war in Ukraine, Trump called for a halt to the escalation and complained about the billions spent on it so far, though he offered few proposals Tangible policies to end.
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, US aid to Ukraine has totaled about $75 billion, while other NATO members and partner countries together have provided more than $100 billion, according to the alliance's secretary general.
Another large aid package put together by Gov. Biden for Ukraine has been stuck for months in Congress, in light of Republican demands to tie it to immigration reform - only to drop it last week under pressure from Trump, who fears giving the president a leg up before the election.
Now, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, are separately trying to advance continued military aid to Kiev, which is suffering from a growing shortage of munitions, but it is unclear whether Trump's supporters will not thwart it once again.
Trump's words on Saturday quickly raised concern among many political commentators in the United States. "Sounds like Trump is encouraging Russia to attack our NATO allies," he wrote David Korn, MSNBC commentator on X.
At the same time, conservative political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said that Trump's words are "music" to the ears of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
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