Donald Trump defiant after backlash over NATO remarks

Donald Trump, a former US president, defended his NATO record on Monday, claiming he had made it “strong” after inciting a storm of criticism with remarks that minimised his dedication to the alliance. In his most severe attack on NATO, Trump said at a speech on Saturday that he would “encourage” Russia to attack countries who had not fulfilled their financial responsibilities. For this, he received criticism from all quarters. “I MADE NATO STRONG, and even the RINOS and Radical Left Democrats admit that,” Trump said on Truth Social Monday, using an acronym deployed by conservatives for critics within their own party: Republicans in Name Only. “When I told the 20 Countries that weren’t paying their fair share that they had to PAY UP, and said without doing that you will not have US Military Protection, the money came rolling in. After so many years of the United States picking up the tab, it was a beautiful sight to see.” Trump has often railed about NATO, accusing Western partners of being freeloaders who do not contribute to military spending and assume they can rely on the United States as a defence shield. However, he frequently shown throughout and after his term in government that he either does not comprehend NATO or is unable to talk truthfully about it. NATO nations made a vague pledge in 2006, which was formalised in 2014, to spend two percent of their GDP on defence, but members do not pay subscription fees and do not “owe” the alliance money. The two percent standard is optional, and there are no repercussions for failing to meet it, as stated in NATO’s founding treaty. Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump had described what he said was a conversation with a fellow head of state at an unspecified NATO meeting. “One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent? No, I would not protect you,’” Trump told his supporters. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” President Joe Biden slammed the comments as “appalling and dangerous,” warning that his predecessor, who is running for reelection, intended to give Russian leader Vladimir Putin “a greenlight for more war and violence.” Trump’s remarks came after Senate Republicans last week rejected a bipartisan bill that would have included $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, plus aid for ally Israel, along with reforms to address the US-Mexico border crisis. A foreign aid package that includes the Kyiv support but decouples the funding from the border issue entirely passed a key procedural vote in the US Senate on Sunday, though Republicans are still expected to block it from becoming law.