The momentum is being built between some Republicans and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, withdrawing the US from NATO amid stalling negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump reportedly floated personally to pull the United States out of the alliance during his first term, but Senator R-UTAH has publicly supported such efforts in recent weeks, saying it is time for NATO countries to “leave” the alliance after holding an emergency meeting with Ukraine in London, the United States.
In a post on X on Sunday, Lee said “NATO is moving forward without the US,” and the US should “moving from NATO.” Lee also suggested various names for the exercise on Monday.
“What should we call this movement to drive America out of NATO? amerexit? natexit?” Lee referenced Brexit in her X post on Monday, referring to Brexit, the term used to describe the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.
“It is good that our NATO allies give us such favorable terms of trade based on the fact that we provide an unbalanced share of their security needs.
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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is pushing the US to leave NATO. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Lee is not the only lawmaker to express such feelings. Rep. Thomas Massey, R-Ky. “NATO is a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a kiosk in the Smithsonian speaking.”
The lawmaker's comments also came after Musk, who leads the Trump administration's newly created Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and shared support for his withdrawal from NATO on Saturday. Musk said he “agree” in X's post in response to another post that argued that it was time for the US to separate itself from NATO and the United Nations.
The push to withdraw from NATO coincides with stalled negotiations to end the war in Ukraine in order for Ukraine to become a member of NATO after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invaded its own country in 2022.
To pull the US out of NATO, Congressional approval is required. The bipartisan provisions included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Bill require administrative agencies to need support from the passage of the law in 60 senators or legislative sessions to withdraw from the alliance. Senator Tim Kane, d-va. , and then Sen. Marco Rubio, now Trump's Secretary of State, R-FLA.
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Rep. Thomas Massey, R-KY. He has also expressed his support for the United States to step out of NATO. (AP Photo/j. Scott Apple White)
Scott Anderson, a fellow governance research at the Brookings facility think tank, said the provision paves the way for a legal battle if administrative agencies try to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the alliance.
“The logic is, essentially, if the president is trying to do this without Congress, you're teasing the fight… that's specifically going to enact such a ban and essentially, litigate this and take it to the Supreme Court.
Still, Anderson said it is not entirely clear who has a legal position to challenge efforts to withdraw from NATO, but Anderson said that those who own service members or property in NATO countries are undoubtedly people who can stand up and challenge the move.
Most Americans maintain positive NATO opinions, but support has declined slightly in recent years. A Pew Research Center survey released in May 2024 found that 58% of Americans have a favorable view of military alliances. But that's 4% points from the previous year, the survey said.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses urged NATO allies to strengthen their defensive contributions to the alliance in February.
“NATO should pursue these goals too,” Hegses told NATO members in Brussels in February. “NATO is a great alliance and the most successful defence alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do much more to defend Europe.”
“We have to make NATO great again,” he said.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegses called on NATO allies to strengthen their defense spending. (Getty Images)
As of 2023, the US spent 3.3% of its GDP on defense spending, worth $880 billion. Over 50% of NATO funding comes from the US, but other allies, such as the UK, France and Germany, have contributed between 4% and 8% to NATO funding in recent years.
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Heggs urged European allies to step up defensive spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, as Trump has long supported.
NATO is made up of over 30 countries and was originally established in 1949 to stop the spread of the Soviet Union.
