Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis has warned of “internal tensions” within the alliance after President-elect Trump has made critical comments about the organization in the past.
“There's going to be a lot of tension within the alliance,” Stavridis warned in an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Friday.
Stavridis' comments come as President Trump touted an isolationist approach to dealing with Ukraine and NATO during the campaign, vowing to resolve the nearly three-year war between Russia and Ukraine before his inauguration. I came out as promised. But his election has raised concerns that the United States will abandon Ukraine or force it to cede territory.
Regarding NATO, lawmakers, the Biden administration, and European allies have sought to “block Trump” from supporting the alliance and Ukraine, given the president-elect's skepticism about NATO and the U.S. role in the European war. He has threatened to leave the alliance, reverse U.S. support for the Ukraine war, and criticized NATO allies for not spending adequately on defense.
President Trump has openly criticized Ukraine, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “one of the greatest salesmen” who secured billions of dollars in security aid from Washington. However, following President Trump's victory, Zelenskiy said:In a speech in BudapestHe said Thursday that he had a productive conversation with President Trump after Tuesday's election victory and expressed optimism for his leadership.
Stavridis said in an interview that the “internal tensions” likely stem from two concerns.
“That's going to come from two things. One is the increased pressure from the Trump administration on our European allies to increase defense spending,” he said.
“Secondly, Andrea, to your point, there will be heightened tensions about Ukraine and what happens next,” Stavridis added, referring to President Trump's skepticism about U.S. aid to Ukraine.
However, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, in a post on social platform He added that it would be.
On Thursday, President Putin also congratulated President-elect Trump on his election victory and said he was ready to hold talks with the president-elect.
Mr. Stavridis and Mr. Mitchell also discussed Israel, where President Trump has repeatedly indicated he wants to end Israel's wars against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon by the time he takes office in January. However, Stavridis said the perception that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “confident” in Trump's support could raise some concerns as Israel continues its expansion into the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. I warned you that it's sexual.
“This pushes any hope of a ceasefire and any hope of releasing the hostages even further away,” Stavridis said.
However, during the interview he also mentioned a “silver lining”.
“The only silver lining to easing escalating U.S.-China tensions is that President Donald Trump may be using 60% tariffs as a negotiating tactic,” he added. He said the president-elect could be “tough and tough, at least in his rhetoric” on China and then “perhaps correct them.”
Stavridis added that he was also monitoring the Philippines “very closely.”
“People don't realize that the Philippines is a treaty ally of the United States, like all NATO partners, so when you look at China's presence in the Philippines… it becomes very concerning over territorial issues in the South China Sea. “It's a tension point that could also increase challenges down the road,'' he said.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
