Speculation on what former President Donald Trump may do with NATO should he be reelected this November is running rampant as he appears poised to become the Republican nominee, and as President Joe Biden’s poll numbers hit record lows.
A recent report from Bloomberg News cited anonymous sources who claimed Trump is considering a two-tiered NATO system where members would only come to the defense of members who met the goal of spending at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense. However, Breitbart News was told Friday the report was inaccurate and based on speculation.
The idea was first floated on Tuesday by Army Lt. Gen. (Retired) Keith Kellogg, who served as the chief of staff of Trump’s National Security Council and then-Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser. Kellogg told Reuters in an interview that he would push for removing Article 5 protections for a NATO member if it did not meet that longstanding threshold. Article 5 holds that an attack against one member of NATO would be considered an attack against all members.
Kellogg also suggested other consequences would be possible if members do not meet the threshold, such as losing access to training or shared equipment.
Former Trump National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien also told Reuters that imposing tariffs on NATO countries could be another move.
Speculation over Trump’s potential plans ran rampant after he said during a February 10 rally in South Carolina that “one of the presidents of a big country” had asked him if the U.S. would still defend it if it was invaded by Russia and they did not meet the threshold.Trump said he told the president — reportedly then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, “No, I would not protect you,” adding, “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”
Trump’s remarks were twisted by Biden and other critics who claimed Trump would no longer defend NATO allies who failed to meet the 2-percent threshold and was encouraging Russia to attack them.
“The former President has set a dangerous and shockingly, frankly, un-American signal to the world. Just a few days ago, Trump gave an invitation to Putin to invade some of our Ally — NATO Allies. He said if an Ally didn’t spend enough money on defense, he would encourage Russia to, quote, ‘do whatever the hell they want,’ end of quote,” Biden claimed.
“Can you imagine a former President of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American,” Biden added.
The NATO member countries who meet the threshold include Poland, the U.S., Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, the United Kingdom, and the Slovak Republican. Members who do not include France, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Slovenia, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
There is also rampant speculation about how Trump would end the Ukraine War if reelected. He previously said he would end the war in 24 hours.
Bloomberg also reported that “Trump advisers” have discussed getting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin around a negotiating table. One adviser allegedly said the promise of ending aid to Ukraine could get it to the negotiating table, while tougher sanctions could persuade Putin to do so.
Bloomberg’s anonymous sources said the campaign is not currently in talks with Russian or Ukrainian intermediaries, partly because that would likely run afoul of the Logan Act, which prohibits private entities from negotiating on behalf of the government.
A senior adviser to Trump, Jason Miller, pointed out to Bloomberg that Trump got more NATO members to increase their defense spending by “demanding they pay up,” adding that “Biden went back to letting them take advantage of the American taxpayer.” He also added that Trump never moved to dismantle NATO, as many critics claimed he would.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence and his ambassador to Germany, told Bloomberg, “When you don’t pay, you’re the country undermining NATO.”
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