Donald Trump is doubling down on his NATO comments that sparked outrage.
Over the weekend, Trump said Russia should be able to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t pay their defense spending obligations for the alliance, and said he wouldn’t protect them.
“For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American,” President Joe Biden said about his predecessor’s remarks during an address at the White House Tuesday.
“I’ve been saying, look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect, OK? Biden said, ‘Oh, this is so bad. This is so terrible that he would say that.’ No,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina Wednesday night, adding that he looked at the defense budgets of member nations when he was president and said “nobody’s paying their bills.”
“One of the heads of the countries stood up and said, ‘Does that mean that if we don’t pay the bills, that you’re not going to protect us?’” Trump recounted. “I said, ‘That’s exactly what it means — exactly. I’m not going to protect you.’”
“We don’t want to be a stupid country any longer,” Trump added.
