U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he may make it official U.S. policy that the U.S. won’t come to the aid of NATO members that don’t meet the alliance’s defence spending target if attacked, questioning whether those allies would do the same for America.
Trump has long complained the U.S. pays far more for defence than the rest of the alliance, and has called on members to increase their spending or risk not getting U.S. aid under NATO’s commitment to collective defence.
Asked if he would make that official U.S. policy, Trump replied: “I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay I’m not going to defend them, no.”
He then justified his position by questioning if allies would defend the U.S. in the event of a future attack on America.
“You know, if the United States was in trouble, and we called them and said, ‘We have a problem, France, we have a problem … do you think they’re going to come and defend us? They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure,” he said.
The collective defence provisions of the NATO Treaty under Article 5 have been invoked only once in the alliance’s 75-year history: when the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
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At the time, the invocation was done by NATO leadership without a U.S. request, and led to limited allied military support in the leadup to American military operations against al-Qaida in the Middle East.
Trump, as he has done multiple times before, recalled he made a similar threat of withholding U.S. aid for “delinquent” members to NATO leaders directly during his first term as president. He has claimed that threat led to more members boosting their defence spending and hitting the two per cent spending target.
NATO leaders, as well as former U.S. president Joe Biden, have said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was behind the spending surge.
NBC News reported earlier Thursday that Trump was considering changes to U.S. policy toward NATO that would include prioritizing military exercises with members that meet their spending commitments, and withholding aid to members that don’t. Trump did not deny the report in the Oval Office.
The U.S. has long complained that Canada and a small number of NATO members still aren’t paying at least two per cent of GDP on defence, more than a decade after the alliance set that threshold. Canada spent around 1.3 per cent of GDP on defence last year.
The federal government has said it has a plan to hit the two per cent target by 2032 but may also speed up that timeline. Experts have told Global News it would be extremely difficult and take multiple hard spending and budget decisions to boost defence spending quickly and maintain it for years to come.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that Trump has made both the United States’ and his personal commitment to NATO clear.
“The transatlantic partnership remains the bedrock of our alliance,” Rutte added during a press conference held alongside Polish president Andrzej Duda in Brussels.
Trump’s nominee for NATO ambassador, Matt Whitaker, similarly told senators during his confirmation hearing this week that the U.S. commitment to NATO is “ironclad.” He said his primary objective if confirmed to the position would be to push Trump’s calls for greater defence spending and burden sharing from European members.
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