Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned over the weekend that former President Donald Trump would try to pull the United States out of NATO if he is re-elected in November.
Clinton made the assertion in remarks at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, in response to former President Donald Trump’s warning to NATO countries to contribute their fair share. He said that we should take his arguments to heart.
“We have a long fight ahead of us. The obvious thing to say about Donald Trump is to take him literally and seriously,” she said. “He means what he says. In 2016, people literally didn’t take him seriously. Now he’s telling us what he’s going to do. And he wants to make it disappear. Those who wish for it and try to get rid of it are living in a different reality.”
“If given the opportunity, he will do everything in his power to become an absolute authoritarian leader, and even if Congress passes a resolution that he cannot do so without parliamentary support, he will “Take us out of NATO. Defund our obligations,” she said.
Record number of NATO members prepare for Trump victory as they aim to meet spending pledges
President-elect Hillary Clinton warned over the weekend that former President Donald Trump would try to pull the U.S. out of NATO if he is re-elected in November. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)
Clinton’s comments come as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was confident the United States would “remain a strong ally and a committed ally” regardless of the outcome this November. It seems like it was directed at me.
Biden calls Trump ‘stupid’ and ‘un-American’ for questioning Europe’s commitment to NATO
President Trump has been fiercely critical of NATO in recent weeks on the campaign trail, further emphatic that members who don’t pay their share of the NATO budget should not receive protection.
Trump has been fiercely critical of NATO in recent weeks on the campaign trail, increasingly arguing that member states that don’t pay their share of the NATO budget should not receive protection. (Spencer Pratt)
Stoltenberg did say last week that Trump’s comments “undermine” the security of the alliance.
“The whole idea of NATO is that an attack against one ally provokes an alliance-wide response, and as long as we collectively support that message, we will deter any military attack against any ally.” said Stoltenberg.
“Any suggestion that we won’t stand up for each other, that we won’t protect each other, makes us all less safe.”
Stoltenberg said last week that Trump’s comments “undermine” the security of the NATO alliance. (Omar Habana/Getty Images)
Although Stoltenberg expressed concern, President Trump’s statementthe former president’s comments sparked a rush to confirm member states’ contributions next year.
The NATO chief announced that 18 of the alliance’s 31 members are on track to meet their commitment to contribute 2% of their GDP to the group. European countries plan to contribute $380 billion this year, making Germany the first country to meet its 2% pledge since the Cold War.
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This figure represents a dramatic increase compared to 2023, when only 11 NATO allies met their 2% spending commitments.
