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A former CIA officer has told Fox News that Donald Trump must be held "accountable" for comments suggesting Vladimir Putin attack NATO members that do not spend enough on defense.
During a rally on February 10, the former U.S. president said that NATO members not meeting the alliance's commitment of spending at least two percent of national GDP on defense would be considered "delinquent."
The two-percent benchmark is one that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said at least half of the 31-member alliance will meet this year but Trump's comments have raised concerns about whether he would try to abandon the bloc should he retake the White House.
Ex-CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman was asked on Fox News for his view on Trump's rhetoric about Russia in a segment that started with anchor Neil Cavuto playing a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, urging President Joe Biden to designate Moscow a state sponsor of terrorism. This followed the death of Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, which Biden has blamed on Putin.
Then there was a montage of Trump's recent comments, including Trump telling the rally in Conway, South Carolina, he would "encourage (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want" to NATO members that did not pay enough.
Other comments from the former president in the clip included him praising Putin as being "very smart...cunning" and that "I got along very well with Putin." When asked for his reaction, Hoffman said "it concerns me. I'd love to ask him, why? Because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
"I spent many days in Russia. It did not take long to remove whatever scales were left from my eyes about what makes Vladimir Putin tick," said Hoffman, now a Fox News contributor. "I think President Trump should be held accountable for those words."
Newsweek has contacted the Trump team for comment by email.
Trump's comments about NATO and Putin have raised concerns among Russia watchers.
Olga Lautman, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), wrote in a substack post on February 12 "the specter of a leader willing to sacrifice international stability for personal gain should serve as a wake-up call and a warning of what will come should Trump win."
Emeritus professor of War Studies at King's College London, Lawrence Freedman, wrote on substack that Trump views NATO "in transactional terms as he views all relationships, assuming that European contributions to the collective defense are in effect repayments to the U.S."
"Even if Europeans spend more, which they are doing and should do more, it may still not make much difference to his attitudes," Freedman added.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more