Turner defends Trump’s comments on NATO: Trump’s ‘political rallies’ don’t translate into his ‘actual policies’

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) defended former President Trump’s recent comments about NATO, saying what the former president says at rallies does not reflect his “actual policy.” Stated.

NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Turner on “Meet the Press” to respond to Trump’s recent comments about NATO, in which Trump told foreign leaders that if their countries They said they warned that Russia could do “whatever it wants” if it did not make a sufficient contribution to the United States. ” Turner claimed that Trump had increased funding for NATO, adding “very strong support” for the alliance.

“Here’s what I know: Donald Trump’s political rallies don’t actually reflect Donald Trump’s actual policies,” he said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“If you look at his policies and his track record, he actually increased funding for NATO, expanded the European Reassurance Initiative, and in fact, for Ukraine, he was the first president to give deadly weapons to Ukraine. So I think his record is strong and I think that’s what’s important,” he continued.

President Trump has criticized NATO in the past, expressing frustration with countries that don’t contribute commensurately to the alliance. The former president frequently attacked the alliance during his tenure and has since become increasingly vocal about Russia and NATO.

His arguments mainly focused on his call for all NATO members to allocate 2 percent of their GDP to defense spending, which NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has set as a benchmark. I said at least half of it. The 31-nation alliance is scheduled to meet in 2024.this is of sEven members Who did it in 2022.

Some Republicans are pushing back against President Trump’s comments, while others are trying to downplay them. President Biden, in his statement, called President Trump’s comments about the alliance “appalling and dangerous.”