Former US President Donald Trump Raised A Storm Of Criticism From The White House And Top Western Officials For Suggesting He Would Not Defend NATO Allies Who Failed To Spend Enough On Defence And Would Even Encourage Russia To Attack Them.
Trump Says He Would Encourage Russia To Attack NATO Allies Who Do Not Pay Their Bills
Why In The News?
- Former US President Donald Trump Raised A Storm Of Criticism From The White House And Top Western Officials For Suggesting He Would Not Defend NATO Allies Who Failed To Spend Enough On Defence And Would Even Encourage Russia To Attack Them.
What Is NATO?
- Founded In 1949 To Counter The Soviet Union With Cold War Tensions Rising, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Is A Political And Military Alliance Of Countries From North America And Europe. Enshrined In Article 5 Of Its Founding Treaty Is The Principle Of Collective Defence The Idea That An Attack On One Member Is Considered An Attack On All Of Them.
- NATO Currently Has 31 Members. The Newest Member Is Finland, Which Joined Last April In Reaction To Russia’s 2022 Invasion Of Ukraine. Sweden Applied To Join Along With Finland But Is Waiting For Hungary To Ratify Its Application As The Final Major Step Before Membership.
What Did Trump Say About NATO?
- As US President From 2017-21, Trump Often Lambasted NATO And Members Such As Germany, Accusing Them Of Not Paying Enough For Their Own Defence And Relying On Washington To Protect Them. He Openly Questioned The Collective Defence Principle.
- Other US Administrations Have Also Accused Europeans Of Not Spending Enough On Defence, But In Less Strident Terms. Trump Took His Criticism To A New Level At A Campaign Rally On Saturday In Conway, South Carolina.
How Is NATO Funded?
- Trump Has Often Accused Other NATO Members Of Not Paying Their Dues, Giving The Impression That The Alliance Is Like A Club With Membership Fees. But NATO Operates Differently. It Has Some Common Funds, To Which All Members Contribute.
- But The Vast Bulk Of Its Strength Comes From Members’ Own National Defence Spending To Maintain Forces And Buy Arms That Can Also Be Used By NATO. However, NATO Members Have Committed To Spending At Least 2% Of Their GDP Every Year On Defence And Most Of Them Did Not Meet That Goal Last Year.
What Did US President Joe Biden Said?
- US President Joe Biden Slammed Presidential Polls Rival And Former President Of US Donald Trump For Threatening To Allow Russia To Invade NATO Allies. President Joe Biden Also Criticized Donald Trump’s Imploring Republicans To Pass Fresh Aid For Ukraine.
