Donald Trump made clear his stance on NATO during a bombshell sit-down with Nigel Farage Tuesday night.
The presidential hopeful says the alliance is “strong because of me” after he forced countries to pony up during his presidency.
“If you’re not paying your bills, we’re not gonna defend you,” he said. “If I said, ‘Yes I am,’ then we’re gonna pay their bills, why would they do it?”
His comments come after he was roundly criticized for encouraging Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies who don’t pay their fare share, which comes out to about 2 percent of their GDP per year.
The president’s allies have dismissed claims that Trump would destroy NATO if re-elected, with one prominent backer telling the Sunday Express such fears are “overblown.”
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Back in August, Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton warned that Trump will “almost certainly withdraw from NATO” if he won a second term.
Current Trump campaign operative Sebastian Gorka, however, has dismissed such claims.
Gorka said: “The idea that he’s going to destroy NATO is nonsense, he wants it to be a strong alliance of people who pull it together.”
The latest Morning Consult poll has Trump and Biden tied in November, with 43 percent each. Another poll by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research also has both men tied at 44 percent each.
