Trump ‘Asks’ Russia To Attack Underpaying NATO Member States
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Europeans woke up Sunday with a headache after the presumed U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump encouraged Russia to attack member states of the NATO military alliance who haven’t met their financial obligations.
The White House described the remarks as “appalling and unhinged.”
Trump, who seeks re-election after Joe Biden was declared president in the November 2020 ballot, made the statement on Saturday during a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina.
Speaking ahead of the state’s Republican presidential preference primary on February 24, Trump told enthusiastic supporters that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on their own defense.
Since 2006, each NATO member has had a guideline of spending at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense spending by 2024.
NATO countries were already increasing their funding substantially before Trump’s presidency following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, his critics say.
More than half have met or come close to that goal as of 2023, and many member countries have increased their spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, data showed.
UNSPECIFIED MEETING
Yet Trump claimed that during an unspecified NATO meeting, he told a fellow head of state that the U.S. under his leadership would not defend any countries who were “delinquent.”
“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?’” Trump said, adding, “I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?’”
“No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates, asked about Trump’s comments, said, “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.”
However, Trump’s comments come amid mounting frustration among Republicans about what they see as America being charged the most for guaranteeing the Western world’s security.
The United States also faces other significant military challenges ranging from the Middle East to China’s threats to annex Taiwan.
Washington views the democratically-ruled island as strategically crucial in part because it produces an estimated 90 percent of the world’s super-advanced semiconductors and supplies to global tech giants such as Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA).
CLOSE ALLY
It mass produces components that are vital to the running of everything from smartphones to washing machines.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is among the closest European allies of Trump, with whom he agrees that the war in Ukraine can’t be won on the battlefield.
Orbán initially threatened to veto a 50 billion euro ($54 billion) European aid package to Ukraine but eventually relented under pressure from EU member states.
In the United States, Republicans, including Trump supporters, have so far blocked $60 billion in aid to Kyiv to help it fend off Russia’s nearly two-year-old full-scale invasion.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed on both sides in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two that, Trump and Orbán say, should be settled at the negotiating table, not on the frontlines.
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