Trump threatens NATO exit, scaling up tensions with allies
Trump threatens NATO exit, scaling up tensions with allies
Tensions between the United States and NATO allies flared up as President Donald Trump said he was considering pulling the U.S. out of the Western military alliance due to its European members’ refusing to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
NATO, which includes European countries, the United States and Canada, was formed in 1949 with the aim of countering the risk of Soviet attack and has been the cornerstone of the West’s security ever since.
Trump told Reuters on Wednesday that he would state in an address to the nation later in the day that he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing the U.S. from the NATO alliance.
“I’ll be discussing my disgust with NATO,” he said of the speech. Asked if he was thinking about pulling out of NATO, he said: “Oh, absolutely without question. Wouldn’t you do that if you were me?”
Trump’s remarks reflect his ongoing frustration with NATO and came just hours after his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to NATO’s collective defense, a concept that lies at the heart of the alliance.
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Experts say it is not clear whether Trump could act unilaterally to leave the 77-year-old coalition, even though he frequently makes major decisions without congressional approval, some of which are held up by U.S. courts.
Experts have warned that Trump’s repeated remarks suggesting that the United States might not honor its NATO commitments could encourage Russia to test NATO members’ readiness to enforce the alliance’s Article 5, which states an armed attack against one member state is an attack on all.
France was among the first European NATO members to react to similar comments by Trump to Britain’s Daily Telegraph published earlier in the day, in which Trump called NATO a “paper tiger” and said he was considering exiting the alliance after allies failed to back U.S. military action against Iran.
“Let me recall what NATO is,” French junior army minister Alice Rufo said – though without directly addressing Trump’s threat to leave NATO.
“It is a military alliance concerned with the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area. It is not intended to carry out an operation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not in accordance with international law.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Trump in a phone call that a “more European NATO” was taking shape and that Europe was shouldering more responsibility, his office said.
But Julianne Smith, who was former President Joe Biden’s ambassador to NATO, said Europe was already spending huge sums of money on its own defense, but it would “probably be the better part of a decade before they can really take on all of the roles and responsibilities that the U.S. is currently providing to the alliance.”
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