In remarks to the Heritage Foundation yesterday, Donald Trump confirmed how committed he was to undermining NATO and prioritizing Putin over our allies. Donald Trump is the leader of today’s Republican Party and he continues to show Republicans are putting party over country as Russia continues its unwarranted attacks on Ukraine.

Donald Trump is the leader of today’s Republican Party and his comments yesterday only reconfirm a growing wing of the party’s continued commitment to turning its backs on our allies.

Washington Post: “Trump says he threatened not to defend NATO against Russia”

Washington Post: “Trump said that if countries did not live up to their spending targets by the end of 2018, he would ‘do his own thing,’ according to interviews in the hours after the meeting with two officials familiar with the conversation.”

Washington Post: “The comments — an apparent reference to NATO’s 2018 summit in Brussels, which Trump shook up with his threats — were the most extensive account from Trump about his mind-set and intentions at the time. They don’t fully jibe with how others described the conversations then, although they may still be an accurate window into how he felt.”

And let’s not forget – Donald Trump spent years undermining NATO and cut its funding, and Trump’s own national security advisor confirmed Trump likely would have pulled the U.S. out of NATO altogether if he had won a second term. 

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.”

Washington Post: “As president, Trump claimed he supported NATO, but he regularly attacked other countries for not paying enough, and plenty of reporting indicates he wanted the United States to exit the alliance altogether in his second term.”

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

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Former National Security Advisor John Bolton: “In a second Trump term, I think he may well have withdrawn from NATO … And I think [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was waiting for that.”

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