Just minutes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy finished his impassioned speech to Congress, Donald Trump released a statement filled with lies about his own history with NATO. Not only did Trump repeatedly undermine the alliance, but he also just admitted he was ready to ignore Article 5 of the NATO treaty altogether. 

After spending years undermining NATO and repeatedly lying about it, Donald Trump admitted in a new interview he was willing to abandon our allies and ignore Article 5 of the NATO treaty.

Washington Examiner: “Trump also highlighted the strong-arming he engaged in to convince NATO countries to increase their defense budgets. The former president conceded that he essentially threatened to ignore the treaty’s Article 5 commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all.”

CNN: “Trump administration to cut its financial contribution to NATO”

Politico: “Trump criticizes NATO members ahead of summit”

PolitiFact: “Trump falsely claims NATO countries owe United States money for defense spending”

But don’t just take Trump’s word for it – his own national security advisor agrees that Trump was ready and willing to pull the U.S. out of NATO if reelected. 

Washington Post: “Bolton says Trump might have pulled the U.S. out of NATO if he had been reelected”

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton: “In a second Trump term, I think he may well have withdrawn from NATO … And I think [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was waiting for that.”

Washington Post: “And [Bolton]’s made quite the opposite case: that Putin didn’t do stuff like this during Trump’s presidency because Trump was already doing the work for him — specifically, by undermining NATO.”

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