Donald Trump encourages Russia to attack NATO allies

© Gage Skidmore / CC-BY-SA-4.0

Donald Trump, who is seeking a second presidency, has said that he would "encourage" Russia to attack any of the US's NATO allies who he considers as not meeting their financial obligations.

The former President has voiced his concerns about giving aid to Ukraine as it defends itself from a Russian invasion, as well the existence of NATO. On Saturday, Trump claimed that he had previously told another head of state that he would not defend any countries who were "delinquent".

“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’” Trump said, adding “I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?’”

“No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

The White House has described the remarks as "appalling and unhinged" after Trump made the comments during a campaign rally in South Carolina ahead their Republican primary on 24 February.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates, when asked about Trump’s comments, said, “encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home.”

In 2014, NATO countries agreed to halt spending cuts, and move towards a target of spending 2% of their GDPs on defence by 2024. As of 2022, NATO reported that seven of 31 allied members were meeting that obligation.

According to Statista, the UK have met and exceed that target of 2% every year since that target was brought in. However, it has fallen from 5.5% in 1984, after cutbacks following the end of the Falklands war.