On Monday, former President Donald Trump explained his stance on NATO after drawing controversy with a story about how he used hardball tactics to negotiate with other world leaders on supporting the alliance.
A statement posted to Truth Social talked about how Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House, argued that member nations contribute more to NATO’s collective defense with a strong U.S. leader pushing them to meet the 2% minimum GDP defense investment guideline.
“When I told the 20 Countries that weren’t paying their fair share that they had to PAY UP, and said without doing that you will not have U.S. Military Protection, the money came rolling in,” Trump said after an opening line claiming that his critics acknowledge how “STRONG” he made NATO.
“After so many years of the United States picking up the tab, it was a beautiful sight to see. But now, without me there to say YOU MUST PAY, they are at it again. We are into helping Ukraine for more than 100 Billion Dollars more than NATO,” he continued, alluding to U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“We have nobody that they respect, and they insist on paying far less than we do. Wrong, NATO HAS TO EQUALIZE, AND NOW. THEY WILL DO THAT IF PROPERLY ASKED. IF NOT, AMERICA FIRST! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1756723700403986615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
via joemiller