Trump Declines to Explicitly Endorse NATO’s Article 5
US President Donald Trump, June 24, 2025. X/ @BulwarkOnline
June 24, 2025 Hour: 12:14 pm
In defining the collective defense principle, this article states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump refused to explicitly support Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which outlines collective defense.
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Before leaving for the NATO Summit in The Hague, when asked if he was still committed to Article 5 of NATO, the U.S. president said, “I am committed to saving lives and to security, and I will give you an exact definition when I get there.”
“It depends on your definition. There are many definitions of Article 5. But I am committed to being their friend. I’ve made friends with many of those leaders, and I am committed to helping them,” Trump added aboard Air Force One.
NATO’s Article 5 establishes the principle of collective defense, stating that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. When asked about the future of the alliance, Trump said his desire is to “have a unified system.”
“I think we’re going to have a stronger and better peace, and I think we already have it,” he said, while reiterating his demand that NATO countries contribute 5% of their GDP to the alliance.
“When I first arrived at NATO, they were broke. I told them: ‘You’re bankrupt.’ Only seven of the 28 countries back then were paying their dues,” Trump recalled.
Once his trip was underway, the Republican wrote on Truth Social that he is “looking forward to meeting with his good European friends” and hopes to accomplish “many things” at the NATO summit. “It will be a much quieter period than the one I just went through with Israel and Iran,” he added.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE