Donald Trump reiterated that the United States should only protect members of NATO, the Western military alliance, from a future attack by Russia if European members spend more on defense.
As a result, during an interview with the British GB News, released this Tuesday (19), Trump repeated comments that provoked criticism both at home and abroad last month.
At the time, the former president said at a campaign rally that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever it wants” to a NATO member if it was not spending enough on defense.
Trump has frequently cited the failure of many of NATO’s 32 members to meet a defense spending target of at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The US military constitutes the core of the alliance’s military power. NATO estimates show that only 11 members are spending at the target level.
Following the Republican’s comments in February, the bloc’s head, Jens Stoltenberg, said he expected 18 allies to reach the spending target this year.
Defending his February comments, Trump said he didn’t care if his political opponents used them against him in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election in which he will face Democratic President Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of NATO.
“I don’t care if they use it, because what I’m saying is a form of negotiation. Why should we protect these countries that have a lot of money and the United States was paying for most of NATO?” Trump commented to interviewer Nigel Farage.
Asked whether the US would defend alliance allies if they started “paying their bills correctly”, he said: “Yes. But the United States should pay its fair share, not everyone else’s fair share.”
“So if they start playing fair, America [United States] will be there?” asked interviewer Nigel Farage.
“Yes, 100%,” Trump responded.
