In his speech during a primary campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump mentioned a conversation with a NATO leader, without specifying who. “One of the presidents of a great country stood up and said ‘Well sir, if we don’t pay and Russia attacks us, will you protect us?'” said the magnate before revealing his answer: “No, I wouldn’t protect them, in fact I would encourage ( to Russia) to do whatever they want. They must pay their debts.

This statement comes after Trump, the president’s probable rival Joe Biden at the polls, put pressure on Republican congressmen to sink a bill that included aid for Ukraine as well as reforms of immigration policies and a tightening of controls on the southern border.

“Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is scary and crazy“was the reaction of the White House on Saturday through its spokesman Andrew Bates. “More than call for war and promote chaosPresident (Joe)Biden will continue to support American leadership,” the spokesperson added.

mutual defense

The NATO Treaty contains a provision guaranteeing the mutual defense of member states if one of them is attacked.

When he was in charge of the White House, Trump was already very critical of the Atlantic Alliance and repeatedly threatened to leave the organization. As a measure of protest, he cut US funding to NATO and one of his main complaints was that his country was paying more than its fair share.

European allies have already expressed concern that a possible victory for the Republican could put the United States’ commitment to the alliance at risk, but the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenbergruled out last month that a second Trump presidency would result in Washington’s withdrawal.

Stoltenberg, who has been pressuring member states to increase defense spendingalso stated that European allies were increasing their military contributions and “moving in the right direction.”

In previous events, Trump has launched other attacks on the Alliance. Last month, at a campaign rally he stated that he did not believe NATO countries would support the United States if he were attacked.

Regarding Russia’s war in UkraineTrump has called for a de-escalation of tensions and complained about the billions spent so far, though he has put forward few tangible policy proposals.

Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, U.S. aid to Ukraine has totaled about $75 billion, Stoltenberg said, while other NATO members and partner states have provided more than $100 billion. jointly.

Immigration

During the rally in South Carolina, Trump also celebrated the failure of the bill that sought to address the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico and promised, if elected, to carry out a massive “deportation operation” on his first day in office.

The abandonment of the bipartisan bill this week in the US Senate highlighted the tight control of Trump on the Republican Party, by denying Biden a victory on immigration, one of the issues of the presidential campaign.

“Let’s not forget that this week we also had another great victory that every conservative should celebrate. We crushed corrupt Joe Biden’s disastrous open borders bill,” Trump declared. “The whole group did a great job in Congress. We crushed it,” he added.

“On day one I will end all of the Biden administration’s open border policies and begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. We have no choice,” he said.

The border bill in the Senate included aid for Ukraine and Israel, but Republicans rejected the proposal on Wednesday, even though it was the conservative party that urged linking immigration funds with foreign policy funds.

The Upper House is now considering a foreign aid package that excludes the border issue. The $95 billion aid package that will come up for debate includes aid for Israel in its war against Hamas and for its strategic ally Taiwan. Most of it, however, would be in aid to Ukraine to replenish its depleted arsenal.