President Donald Trump explicitly declared his commitment to uphold Article 5 of the NATO alliance in a Friday White House lawn appearance.
Article 5 of the NATO treaty stipulates that an attack on one country of the alliance is an attack on all. Trump did not explicitly declare his commitment to Article 5 in a May visit to the alliances headquarters in Brussels, sparking widespread condemnation. Trump’s declaration came during a question as to whether the U.S. would honor its treaty obligation if Russia attacked a NATO member.
“Yes, absolutely I’d be committed to Article 5,” Trump said unequivocally.
Trump has disparaged NATO allies for failing to meet their agreed upon defense spending targets in the past, and even suggested during the 2016 campaign that he may not uphold Article 5 if countries continued to shirk their obligation. Trump also called NATO “obsolete” days before taking office, but later said that it wasn’t anymore during a visit to Washington by NATO Secretary General Jans Stoltenberg in April.
[contentcards url=”http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/09/trump-im-absolutely-committed-to-article-5-of-nato-treaty/” target=”_blank”]Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].