Trump warns NATO members: if they do not invest in defense, "we’re not going to defend you"

President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a blunt warning to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members: if they do not invest enough in their own defense, the United States will not protect them.

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump reiterated his position that many countries in the Organization are not meeting their financial commitments, and said he has already told those governments that he will not defend them if they are "delinquent" in their contributions.

“I said, ‘If you’re not gonna pay your bills, we’re not going to defend you,'" Trump said, recalling a warning he had already issued during his first term. According to the president, that pressure resulted in "hundreds of billions of dollars" invested in security by several NATO countries.

Today his message remains clear: "If they got attacked, they said, ‘Well, does that mean you won’t defend us? I said, ‘Are you current or are you delinquent?’ They said, ‘If we were delinquent, would you?’ I said, ‘Nope, I would not.'”

NATO set a goal that each of its 32 members should spend at least 2 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product) on defense, a target that eight countries have yet to meet. Trump, who during his first term and in the current campaign for the November elections has openly questioned the principle of collective defense enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, insisted that his support for this commitment will depend on financial contributions from allies. "We’ve been supporting the whole world,” he said.

In the same vein, when asked by a reporter whether he would make it U.S. policy not to protect NATO allies who pay less, Trump replied in the affirmative: “Well, I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not gonna defend them. No, I’m not gonna defend him”.

Article 5, which states that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all, has been invoked only once in history: after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States. On that occasion, NATO's response was largely symbolic, with the deployment of aircraft and ships as a show of solidarity. However, Trump sowed doubts about the reciprocity of that commitment.

“If the United States was in trouble and we called them, if we said, ‘We’ve got a problem, France, we got a problem—'a couple of others I won’t mention'—do you think they’re going to come and protect us? They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure," he reflected.

With these statements, the president reinforces a posture of pressuring his partners to increase their defense investments.