New Delhi: While speaking in Brussels in 2018, the then US President Donald Trump reportedly threatened to pull his country out of NATO — a 75-year-old military alliance between America and Europe formed after World War II.
But last week, Trump, who’s making yet another presidential bid, made a comment that took this thinking a step further, prompting strong reactions from Europe and leaving many to wonder if the businessman-turned-politician may have hurt his own chances ahead of the US presidential election slated later this year.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay (meet defence spending obligations) and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened’. ‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want’,” Trump told supporters during a campaign trail in South Carolina on 10 February.
The remarks came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears two years. Incumbent President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election, called the statement by his predecessor “appalling and unhinged” while NATO’s secretary-general issued a statement saying such suggestions undermine American security and put US and European troops at risk.
According to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all”.
Some Republican lawmakers like Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham have attempted to downplay Trump’s comments, arguing that this was a narration of a conversation that happened well before the Ukraine war broke out.
But American newspapers issued sharply-worded editorials saying this shouldn’t be interpreted as just another outrageous remark by a politician known to make provocative statements.
“If Russia believes Trump as president wasn’t committed to NATO and the principle of collective defense, it might be emboldened to move openly or through subversion against neighboring NATO countries,” the LA Times said in an editorial Monday.
Meanwhile, a report from the French newspaper Le Monde highlighted Trump’s “contempt” for America’s traditional allies and “isolationist inclinations”.
Trump’s comments also come as the US Senate is close to finalising $61 billion in aid to Kyiv. Some see this as Trump’s way of boasting about how he would make allies pay up (NATO allies have committed to spending a minimum of 2 percent of their GDP on defence). But with the US presidential elections nearing, leaders in Europe fear what the global balance of power may look like should Trump return to office.
Just days after the former president’s remarks, leaders from Poland, France, and Germany vowed to make Europe a security and defence power to back Ukraine. On Monday, Polish PM Donald Tusk reportedly told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Europe will be “respected in all the capitals of the world” if it is a major military power.
Earlier in Paris, Tusk met French President Emmanuel Macron during which he said NATO should be an alliance of “All for one, and one for all!”
“With Trump, you can never tell whether he means what he says, but since this was something he wanted to do even during his presidency, it has to be taken seriously, even though many Republican Senators would also baulk at this,” Rajesh Rajagopalan, Professor of International Politics at JNU, told ThePrint.
He further said: “But Europeans have to take this seriously, going beyond rhetoric. Many are still not doing enough for their own defense, though they have been saying they would for several decades. If Trump does take the US out of NATO and Europeans are not ready, they have only themselves to blame”.
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What this means for Trump’s presidential bid
Despite a slew of litigations and two impeachments, Trump is currently leading in the Republican primary for US President, ahead of rival Nikki Haley. Four days ago, he won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses, inching closer to bagging his party’s nomination.
Trump has 63 delegates with Haley behind with 17 delegates, still a long way ahead to the minimum 1,215 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
However, his recent remark has led some to believe that he may have hurt his chances, even against incumbent Biden who has faced criticisms over declining mental acumen and “flawed” foreign policy decisions in Afghanistan and Israel.
In an editorial on 11 February, The Wall Street Journal said this may give many Americans a reason not to vote for him again “even against a mentally declining President Biden”.
Earlier this week, General (Ret.) Wesley K. Clark, Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, also warned: “The lives of every American, both in uniform and civilian, are at severe risk if Donald Trump wins this election”.
NEW: Statement Of General (Ret.) Wesley K. Clark, Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander And VoteVets Senior Advisor, On Donald Trump Encouraging Putin To Attack NATO
"It is the kind of statement that can only come from a deranged and twisted mind. I do not say this lightly: The… pic.twitter.com/Cgq5EgCkUw
— VoteVets (@votevets) February 11, 2024
The remarks have also prompted the resurfacing of clips in which Trump praised Putin’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. “So smart,” he said told a news outlet at the time. “When you see the riots in a country because they’re hurting the Russians, okay, ‘We’ll go and take it over.’ And he really goes step by step by step, and you have to give him a lot of credit.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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