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Donald Trump has once again returned to criticizing NATO, expressing his disappointment with the alliance. However, the American president's critical stance towards the organization is not new. His relationship with NATO has been tense for years, causing every summit of the alliance to be accompanied by efforts to maintain Washington's commitment.
As NATO's largest military power and main financial contributor, the United States has historically used the alliance as an important instrument of its global policy. Trump, on the other hand, has repeatedly questioned the future of the American role in NATO, arguing that European countries are not contributing enough to the common defense and expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of support for his foreign policies.
"NATO is obsolete"
Shortly before he first took office in 2017, Trump declared that NATO had "serious problems." "I've said for a long time that NATO has problems. First, it's outdated, because it was created many years ago. Second, many countries are not paying what they should," he said.
The clashes reached a peak during the NATO summit in June 2018. According to Reuters, behind closed doors Trump warned that the US could "go its own way" if allies did not increase their financial contributions. However, at the end of the summit he declared that member countries had agreed to significantly increase their commitments.
Statements about Russia
During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Trump reignited the controversy by questioning the US's willingness to defend allies that fail to meet financial obligations.
He declared that he would encourage Russia to "do whatever it wants" with NATO countries that, according to him, were not "paying their bills." Then, Trump temporarily refused to rule out the possibility of using military force to take control of Greenland, a territory belonging to Denmark, one of the NATO member countries.
After his return to the White House, European leaders sought a compromise with the new US administration on increasing the defense spending target. As a result, an agreement was reached that raises the target to 5% of GDP, with 3.5% dedicated to military spending and 1.5% to investment in infrastructure and supporting capabilities.
"A paper tiger"
Despite the compromise, relations remained strained. Trump again criticized the alliance after member countries refused to support the forcible opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which was blocked by Iran after US attacks.
In an interview with 'The Telegraph', the US president described NATO as "a paper tiger".
In another reaction on social media, he wrote that "the US does not need anything from NATO", urging his followers to "never forget" this fact./ Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "Sky News".
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