Former president Donald Trump doubled down Wednesday on his alarming criticism of U.S. NATO allies after President Joe Biden mentioned his remarks have been “un-American.”
Trump on Saturday asserted that, if reelected, he would let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members that didn’t “pay their bills.”
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It was a defective declare, because the 75-year-old treaty group doesn’t work the best way Trump implied.
He nonetheless hammered on, writing on Truth Social, “Could somebody please inform our uninformable President that NATO has to pay their bills!”
“They should equalize with the U.S. – FAST! The European Nations, when combined, have approximately the same size Economy as we do. They have the money. PAY UP!”
NATO receives some direct funding from member nations, however it’s largely backed by oblique funding. The group is strengthened when every nation invests in its personal navy.
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In 2014, member nations determined that these not spending at the very least 2% of their gross home product on protection would try to achieve that objective inside 10 years. NATO is just not near assembly that objective, however there are not any “bills” that grow to be “delinquent,” as Trump asserted at a rally in South Carolina on Saturday.
He has repeatedly portrayed himself as a driving issue of NATO’s elevated funding, regardless that member nations had pledged to take action two years earlier than he was elected.
Biden ripped into Trump’s NATO criticism on Tuesday, saying the U.S. dedication to the group was “sacred.”
“When he looks at NATO, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world. He sees a protection racket. He doesn’t understand that NATO’s built on a fundamental principles of freedom, security and national sovereignty, because for Trump, principles never matter. Everything is transactional,” Biden mentioned.