Trump: Wouldn’t protect NATO countries that don’t pay Russia. Two dead when private jet crashes on Florida highway

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he would not grant protection from Russia to NATO partners that do not meet their financial obligations. The former US president said this on Saturday (local time) during a campaign event in the US state of South Carolina.

The “president of a great country” once asked him whether the US would still protect this country from Russia even if the country did not pay for its defense spending, Trump said. He replied, “No, I wouldn’t protect you.” In fact, he would “even encourage Russia to do whatever they want.” It was unclear whether such a conversation ever took place between Trump and a head of state, as the Republican also said, “Let’s assume that happened.”

US President Joe Biden’s White House responded immediately. “Encouraging attacks by a murderous regime on our closest allies is outrageous and utterly insane,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement on Saturday. “It endangers America’s national security, global stability and our domestic economy.”

During a recent visit to Washington, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed fears that the outcome of the US presidential election could jeopardize NATO’s future. Stoltenberg told the American broadcaster CNN at the end of January that he had worked with Trump for four years and had listened to him carefully. Trump’s main criticism, that allies are spending too little on NATO, has been received. They have increased their defense spending significantly in recent years. Trump, who reigned in the White House from 2017 to 2021, repeatedly threatened to withdraw the US from the defense alliance. The Republican wants to be re-elected president in November and is fighting for his candidacy in his party’s primaries. He advertises, among other things, that he wants to continue a fundamental revaluation of NATO.

During the election rally in South Carolina, Trump also announced again that he would deport people on a large scale. Irregular immigration is one of the dominant issues in the US election campaign. A common argument on the Republican side is that taxpayers’ money should not be spent on protecting other countries – such as Ukraine – but on protecting their own borders. (sda/dpa)