President Biden on Thursday celebrated and praised the 75th anniversary of the NATO alliance, even as former President Trump threatened to encourage attacks on “delinquent” members.
Biden called NATO “the greatest military alliance in the history of the world,” adding, “For the past 75 years, America and our allies have chosen to stand together for freedom and stop aggression.”
The president invoked Article V, which declares that the alliance was united during the Cold War and that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, an attack on one ally is an attack on all, and during Russia’s war against Ukraine. He also outlined that they have been united. .
He also touted the recent membership of Finland and Sweden, claiming that “NATO is now bigger, stronger and more determined than ever before.”
At a rally in February, President Trump told the story of an unidentified foreign leader who questioned the alliance’s threat to not protect member states that were not meeting their defense spending goals. He said he told Russia he would “encourage” it to do whatever it wanted, and recalled: “You didn’t pay?” you are a delinquent. ”
Biden criticized Trump for those comments at the time, saying “everything is transactional” for his 2024 Republican rival.
“Now, like generations before us, we must choose to preserve and build on this progress,” Biden said in a statement Thursday.
“We must never forget that our sacred promise to our allies to defend every inch of NATO territory increases our security and gives the United States a security bulwark unmatched by any nation in the world. ” continued the president. “And like our predecessors, we must ask ourselves what we can and must do to build a more peaceful future.”
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