Senator Marco Rubio defended the former president on Sunday Donald Trump recently comments he talked about not protecting NATO countries, saying that Trump as president “didn’t take us out of NATO.”
Rubio, R-Fla., disputed CNN’s Jake Tapper’s assertion that Trump “would not defend NATO countries and would actually invite them.” [Russian President Vladimir] Let Putin and Russia occupy them.”
“Well, that didn’t happen and I didn’t even look at that statement,” Rubio said. “I mean, he was talking about a story that happened in the past. … He does not speak like a traditional politician.”
“What he actually said is, if you look at the comments, he said NATO was broken or bankrupt because people didn’t pay their dues until he came into power, and then he told the story about how he used leverage to get people up. and be more active in NATO,” Rubio added.
“Trump was the president and he didn’t pull us out of NATO,” said Rubio, adding that during the Trump administration, “American troops were stationed all over Europe. The way they were today, they were the same then.”
Meanwhile, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who is running against Trump in the Republican presidential election, criticized the former president for what he said.
“I dealt with Russia every day. The last thing we want to do is side with Russia,” Haley told CBS News Sunday morning.
“We want NATO allies to pull their weight. But there are ways you can do that without sitting there and telling Russia you have your way with these countries. This is not what we want,” he added.
And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a vocal opponent of Trump, called Trump a “national security risk” Sunday in response to the former president’s NATO remarks.
“What creates a national security risk is the possibility that he could become president of the United States again,” Christie told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“That’s why I’ve been saying for a long time that he’s unfit to be president of the United States,” Christie said, citing Trump’s “love of dictators.”
He also reiterated that he would “under no circumstances” vote for Trump in the general election, but added, “I can’t see myself voting for President Biden either.”
Trump told a crowd in South Carolina on Saturday night that he would let Russia “do what they want” with NATO countries that have delayed payments to the group.
Trump also described a meeting with the leader of a country that has fallen behind on its payments to NATO.
“I said: “You didn’t pay? Are you a criminal? …No, I wouldn’t protect you. In fact, I’d encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You have to pay. You’ve got to pay your bills,” he said Saturday.
According to Trump’s report He threatened to withdraw the United States It requires NATO member countries to meet the goal of spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. For comparison, let’s note that President Joe Biden once again declared the commitment of the United States to the alliance.