Donald Trump and his reckless words about NATO worry America's allies, bolster Russia's Vladimir Putin

There are so many things Donald Trump doesn’t know. But that doesn’t stop him from speaking his, well, I guess it’s a mind. It all seems rather mindless.

The latest example — although another inane and offensive remark is always just around the corner with the former president — occurred on Feb. 10. Trump said Russia could do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO country if they don’t meet spending levels he agrees with, since he is such a master of world strategy.

The United States is a charter member of NATO (its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, are shown above in a public domain photo posted on wikimedia commons), and has always abided by the mutual defense clause in Article 5 of the treaty, but that does not matter to Trump. There is an excellent chance he is not aware of it.

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a rally in Conway, South Carolina. “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.”

He said the president of a “big country” — although it might be a prime minister, a member of a parliament or a talk-show host for all we know — asked him if the United States would still defend an ally against a Russian invasion even if it hadn’t paid up.

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled saying. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

That is dangerous rhetoric, and sends a clear signal to Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, Trump’s buddy. What he is hearing is that if the apparent Republican nominee wins in November and returns to office, he is willing to look the other way as Russia moves on another country.

It feels like we are through the looking glass. A former and possibly future president is siding with Russia, long our most feared enemy, and is threatening our closest allies unless they pay up.

President Joe Biden, once again offering a rational response, said Trump “is making it clear that he will abandon our NATO allies.” That could have very serious consequences.

“Trump’s admission that he intends to give Putin a greenlight 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.

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as United Nations ambassador during the Trump administration, is the last Republican opponent between him and a third consecutive presidential nomination. She almost assuredly won’t stop him, but she is trying to send a clear message to her party of the danger Trump presents.

“When you hear Donald Trump say in South Carolina a week ago that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies if they weren’t pulling their weight, that’s bone-chilling because all he did in that one moment was empower Putin,” Haley said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Feb. 18.

While Trump may think he is just playing politics and firing up his mob with more rhetorical red meat, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it places American and NATO troops in harm’s way.

“Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

Kurt Volker served as the U.S. ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush and was even Trump’s envoy for Ukraine as tensions rose with Russia. Volker was outraged by the reckless comments.

“NATO’s purpose — it is to prevent war. And what Trump is suggesting is encouraging one of our adversaries to create a war and attack a NATO ally,” he said. “That is completely outrageous and unacceptable. Somebody like Vladimir Putin is delighted to see that there are these kinds of divisions and disagreements and pressures going on inside the alliance.”

Does Trump not understand that? Does he not care? Or does he really want to see Putin conquer more countries and expand Russian control over more of Europe?

Once again, Trump is blind to everything except for his own life, career and legal problems. He had the audacity to compare his mountain of legal woes to the death of dissident Alexei Navalny, Putin’s strongest critic in Russia. Navalny who died in a remote arctic prison after being jailed by Putin. Trump, of course, did not say anything negative about his dictator pal whose hands are coated in blood.

Russia openly worked to help Trump win in 2016, and Trump and his campaign sought its support. He ignores the record of mutual support between the USA and NATO, siding with a murderous dictator whom most Americans loathe.

Should other NATO members pay more? Yes, and that’s been the case for decades. Trump talked tough when he was in office — that is his default position — and they did kick in more money.

But that has continued to rise with Biden in the White House, and not because he threatens to withdraw us from NATO. No, the tremendous fear engendered by Putin’s bloody, ruthless invasion of Ukraine, and his expressed interest in more land and power, has forced them to invest in the military.

https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-russia-germany-boris-pistorius-nato/

Republicans who fear the lash of Trump’s tongue and his social media platform, as well as the millions of worshippers he controls, are saying they don’t take his words that seriously. That’s just him mouthing off, trying to work up a crowd.

He understands the importance of NATO, they insist, and even boosted American funding for it during his four years in office. Pay no attention to his words, they insist.

The problem is, Putin is hearing them loud and clear, and he loves the idea of being allowed to do “whatever the hell” he wants. That’s why Trump’s foolish and dangerous words cause sane people to lose sleep at night.

Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The  Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets.