The increasingly likely return of Donald Trump to the White House creates bipartisan concerns in Congress regarding the possibility of a tycoon, having returned to the presidency strengthened and better prepared, attempting the absurd, that is, withdrawing the United States from NATO. And so, in the annual military expenditure law approved last week, a measure was inserted, without much fanfare, that explicitly prohibits the possibility of a president deciding to abandon the Atlantic Alliance without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate or an act of Congress. . . This is a bipartisan initiative, sponsored by Democratic Senator Tim Kain and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, which reiterates, especially in light of its revitalized importance following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Congress’s commitment to supporting NATO, obviously without doing any direct reference to Trump who repeatedly attacked the Atlantic Alliance during his first term.
«NATO had a strong response to Putin’s war in Ukraine and the growing challenges in the world», words of Senator Kaine, who highlighted the need to reaffirm «US support for this crucial alliance». “We must ensure that we are protecting our national interests and protecting the security of our democratic allies”, echoed Republican Rubio, speaking of the measure approved in the Senate with 87 votes in favor and 13 against, and in the Chamber with 310 in favor. favor and 118 contrary.
During all four years of his first term, Trump publicly criticized NATO, accusing the allies in particular of not respecting their defense spending commitments and relying on those of the United States. And behind closed doors, his former collaborators reported, the tycoon spoke explicitly several times about leaving NATO. John Bolton, who was his National Security Advisor, recently expressed his conviction that “in a second term, Trump will certainly want to abandon NATO”. Meanwhile, the former president’s election campaign website states that “we have completed the process begun under my administration of fundamentally reassessing NATO’s purpose and mission”. Then, there are those who remember that, long before his entry into politics, in 2000, Trump called for leaving NATO, stating that this “would save our country millions of dollars every year. The cost of maintaining NATO troops in Europe is enormous and clearly these funds could be better used.”
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
