Did Donald Trump Really ask Russia to Attack NATO Allies?

Donald Trump made a comment in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday where he implied that if NATO countries didn’t pay their fair into the NATO alliance, that the United States wouldn’t defend them in the case of an invasion. This is not a new policy for Trump. He’s been shouting this from the rooftops for many years. And if there’s anything to learn from the war in Ukraine, it’s that Trump is right.

Trump has long urged NATO allies to contribute a larger percentage of their GDP, most notably in 2018 when he confronted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the issue. “Germany is paying a little over 1%, whereas in the United States in actual numbers is paying 4.2% of a much larger GDP” Trump said in a meeting with Stoltenberg following the agreement of Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany. Trump has long made the point that the United States is contributing a lot more money to defend against potential conflict against the alliance, in a conflict that would likely take place very very far from the United States.

Under the Biden Administration, the disparity has only risen. For example, The United States has contributed a much greater percentage in the war in Ukraine, compared to other European Nations.

NATO countries have pledged to increase defense spending amid the war in Ukraine. However, Trump had been urging this for a long time. A case can even be made that if NATO countries, had spent more prior to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, it would’ve been a deterrence to Russia’s invasion.

So the answer is No, Trump did not say he wouldn’t defend NATO allies in the case of a Russian Invasion. He simply reiterated a point that he has been making for a while. A point that actually advances American Interests. It’s time for NATO alliance countries to contribute an equitable percentage as compared to the United States, if they want to reap the benefits of the greatest military in the history of the earth, coming to their defense.