Trump has been highly critical of NATO for years, and allies’ fears were heightened after the former president — set to face incumbent President Joe Biden in an election on November 5 — said last month he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries which didn’t meet their financial obligations to the alliance.
But speaking to Farage — the former leader of the U.K.’s Brexit Party — Trump softened his rhetoric while maintaining that Europe must pay “its fair share” of defense costs.
“NATO has to treat the U.S. fairly, because if it’s not for the United States, NATO literally doesn’t even exist,” Trump said.
Asked directly if the U.S. under his presidency would come to the aid of NATO countries under attack, Trump said it would.
“Yeah. But you know, the United States should pay its fair share, not everybody else’s fair share,” Trump responded.
“We have an ocean in between some problems … we have a nice big, beautiful ocean,” Trump added. “[NATO] is more important for [European countries], they will take an advantage.”
