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Former President Donald Trump's latest attack on the NATO alliance is "dangerous and frankly irresponsible," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Tuesday.
The Republican presidential frontrunner repeatedly criticized NATO during his first term, reportedly even threatening to withdraw the U.S. from the bloc over the failure of allies to meet agreed military spending targets.
This weekend, Trump said that he would encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to NATO allies who fail to "pay your bills." The comments prompted condemnation from the White House, NATO headquarters, and allied capitals.
In response, Smith told journalists at a Tuesday briefing: "Encouraging the Kremlin to attack any NATO ally or alliance territory really puts our soldiers—U.S. soldiers and our allies' soldiers—in greater danger. Doing so, making those types of statements, is dangerous and frankly irresponsible."
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump campaign by email to request comment.
Smith's criticism echoed that of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said in a weekend statement: "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."
"If my opponent, Donald Trump, is able to regain power, he is making it clear as day that he will abandon our NATO allies if Russia attacks and allow Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' with them," the president said in a statement.
"Serving as Commander-in-Chief is the ultimate responsibility and one that should weigh heavily on the individuals that hold this office," Biden added. "Donald Trump's admission that he intends to give Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous.
"Sadly, they are also predictable coming from a man who is promising to rule as a dictator like the ones he praises on day one if he returns to the Oval Office."
Trump has long railed against NATO allies, the majority of whom have still not met the 2 percent of GDP military spending threshold agreed upon in 2014. If pledges made to Newsweek last month prove accurate, half of NATO allies will reach the 2 percent goal by the end of 2024.
A potential Trump return is raising tough questions in allied capitals. Within NATO leadership, "there is probably the worry that this time Trump is going to be serious about pulling out," Fabrice Pothier—a former director of policy planning for NATO—told Newsweek in January. "It could be that this time he comes back with a vengeance."
Update 2/13/24, 9:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more information from Ambassador Julianne Smith's briefing and context around Trump's criticism of NATO.
About the writer
David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more