Former President Trump vowed that, if he's elected, the United States would "100%" stay a part of NATO if the alliance pays its "fair share" and treats America "fairly."
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said NATO "has to treat the U.S. fairly" in an interview with Nigel Farage Tuesday.
"If it's not for the United States, NATO literally doesn’t even exist," Trump said. "But they took advantage of us like most countries do.
"The United States should pay its fair share — not everybody else’s fair share."
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Trump told Farage he believes the United States "was paying 90% of NATO — could be 100%."
"It was the most unfair thing," Trump said. "And don’t forget, it is more important to them than it is to us. We have an ocean in between some problems — OK. We have a nice big, beautiful ocean. It is more important for them."
Trump said NATO was "taking advantage" of the United States, including "on trade."
Farage asked if NATO starts "to play fair, America’s there?"
Trump replied, "Yes, 100%. One hundred percent."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced last month that 18 of the alliance's 31 members are on track to meet their pledges of contributing 2% of GDP to the group. European states are on track to contribute $380 billion this year, and Germany will meet its 2% pledge for the first time since the Cold War.
The figures show a dramatic uptick compared to 2023, which saw just 11 NATO allies meet their 2% spending pledge.
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"That is another record number and a six-fold increase from 2014, when only three allies met the target," Stoltenberg said at a press conference last month.
Trump, at a rally earlier this year, said if he is elected, "everybody's gonna pay."
"NATO was busted until I came along," Trump said. "I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.' They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?' I said, 'Absolutely not.' They couldn't believe the answer."
The statement triggered an immediate response from President Biden's White House, which denounced the statement as "unhinged."
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"President Biden has restored our alliances and made us stronger in the world because he knows every commander in chief’s first responsibility is to keep the American people safe and hold true to the values that unite us," Andrew Bates said in a statement.
"Thanks to President Biden's experienced leadership, NATO is now the largest and most vital it has ever been. Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged — and it endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home."
