Trump Could Still Shred NATO if Re-elected
Plus: When does pro-family policy no longer take precedence?
While Donald Trump has flip-flopped on plenty of major issues over the past decade, one of his most durable positions has proved to be his desire to withdraw the United States from NATO. The former president privately discussed the idea on a number of occasions during his presidency and has publicly brought it up during his campaign to take back the White House. (He went so far as to say he’d encourage Russia to attack member countries whose monetary support for the alliance he considers insufficient.) If Trump gains a second term, we could see his administration using much more than words to undermine NATO during a crucially important time in the organization’s 75-year history.
Trump’s rage towards NATO draws from many sources: anti-European isolationists in his ear, his fondness for strongmen hostile to the United States, and his warped view that member nations are “delinquent” and “not paying their bills.” (NATO countries do not have dues, but their membership agreement requires them to spend at least two percent of their gross domestic product on defense.)
President Joe Biden has condemned Trump’s comments on NATO, offering some frank words on the former president’s decision to encourage Russia to attack member countries: “For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.” During remarks at the White House in February, Biden added: