On Saturday, February 10, at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, former President Donald Trump said he would encourage Russia to attack NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members if they did not meet their financial obligations. 

“NATO was busted until I came along,” said Trump. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

NATO is a security alliance of 31 countries scattered across Europe and North America. NATO’s Article V says that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.

Although Ukraine is not part of NATO, “The security of Ukraine is of great importance to NATO and its member states. The Alliance fully supports Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defense, and its right to choose its own security arrangements,” NATO said on its official website.

NATO aspires to spend 2% of its GDP (gross domestic product — the value of all the services and goods produced in a country) on its militaries.

Trump said the leader of a “big country” had proposed a hypothetical situation where it did not spend the desired 2% of its GDP on its military. He recalled telling that president, “No, I will not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

President Joe Biden is using this as an opportunity to boost his political campaign for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. “Trump’s admission that he intends to give Putin a green light for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous,” Biden said via his campaign.