Trump Claims He Would “Encourage” Russia To Attack NATO Countries If They Don’t Pay In

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump escalated his incendiary rhetoric against NATO on Saturday, claiming that while he was president, he told a foreign leader that he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the 30 other countries that failed to meet their financial obligations to the Atlantic alliance.

The comments came at a campaign rally in South Carolina—the home state of Trump’s chief GOP rival, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley—which will hold its Republican primary on February 24. Throughout this election season, the Trump campaign has repeatedly attacked Haley, whom Trump appointed as his UN Secretary, as a “warmonger,” drawing attention to Haley’s support for an interventionist foreign policy.

In his speech, Trump recounted a conversation with an unnamed president of a “big country” in NATO, who he claimed once asked him, “If we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” Trump added: “I said, ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.”

The White House called the comments “appalling and unhinged” Saturday evening. “Rather than calling for wars and promoting deranged chaos, President Biden will continue to bolster American leadership and stand up for our national security interests — not against them,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who endorsed Trump in January and sits on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, came to the former president’s defense on CNN’s State of the Nation, saying he had “zero concern” about the potential implications of the comments. “He’s not the first American president — in fact, virtually every American president at some point in some way has complained about other countries in NATO not doing enough,” Rubio said.

For years, Trump has bashed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and called on member countries to increase their security spending as part of a broader retreat from US alliances. Since 2022, Trump has also been a top critic of US support for Ukraine. Earlier on Saturday, the former president had put out an all-caps post on Truth Social arguing that “no money in foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan, not just a giveaway.” “Are you listening, US Senate (?),” he added, referencing ongoing Senate proceedings over a funding package providing $60 billion to Ukraine.

Trump’s comments quickly came under fire from several Western officials. “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,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a written statement, adding that “any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response.” Both the Polish defense minister and German foreign ministry posted the NATO motto of ‘one for all, all for one” in response to Trump’s comments.

Several top Democrats also jumped into the fray. “Trump bragged that he’d encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to our NATO allies if they didn’t spend enough on defense,” California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He’s more interested in aggrandizing himself and pleasing Putin than protecting our allies. It would be enough to make Reagan ill.”