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Former US president Donald Trump has declared he will “settle” the ongoing Ukraine War and require NATO members to pay for American protection, if elected in the US presidential elections in November.
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The Republican candidate said America will likely withdraw from several international conflicts involving US troops and stop subsidising the protection of other international countries without sufficient renumeration, during a political rally held in Conway, South Carolina, on 11 February.
“There’s billions and billions, trillions of dollars (in military aid). They (US administration) want to give $100 billion to a few countries,” Trump said at the event.
“(I ask) why do we do this? (Instead) give it to them as a loan; if they can pay it back, they pay it back.
“But if they go to another nation (and) they drop us like a dog. If that happens to our country then very simply, we call the loan.
“As an example, we’re already into Ukraine for over $200 billion and they could make a deal with Russia in the next three weeks and they don’t want to deal with us anymore.
“That war has gotta (sic) end. We are going to make a deal and get that war ended,” Trump continued.
“That war is a disaster … They’re not doing well. We gotta get that war settled (and) we’ll get it settled.”
In a possible forecast of future US defence policy, Trump also levelled political rhetoric at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intergovernmental military alliance.
NATO includes 31 member states such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Albania, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Turkiye, Spain, Slovenia, Romania, Portugal, Poland, Norway, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Montenegro, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Iceland, Hungary, Greece, Estonia, Denmark, and Czechia.
Under NATO’s mutual defence agreement, all allies commit to help any member who comes under attack.
In addition, NATO defence ministers agreed to commit a minimum of 2 per cent of their gross domestic product to defence spending to continue to ensure the alliance’s military readiness, as of 2006.
Only 11 member states (including the US) are exceeding that mark, according to 2023 NATO estimates. Major NATO powers including France, Germany, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Italy are reportedly below that target as of July last year.
“Why are we at over $200 billion (in military aid to Ukraine) and the European nations are at $25 billion ($47 billion), it affects them much more. We have an ocean between us,” Trump said during the same rally.
“I got NATO to pay up. NATO was busted until I came along. I said, ‘Everyone has gotta pay’.
“They (NATO) asked, ‘If we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ and I said absolutely not. You never saw more money pour in.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up, he said, ‘Well sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia. Will you protect us?’
“I said, you didn’t pay; you’re delinquent. No, I would not protect you, and in fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want.
“And the money came flowing in. You don’t pay your bills, you don’t get protection ... we are not going to be the stupid country of the world any longer.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, responding to the comments, said any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response.
“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” he said in a public statement.
