Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance said Donald Trump would keep the U.S. in NATO if re-elected, but it’s important that the transatlantic alliance isn’t “just a welfare customer.”
“Donald Trump wants NATO to be strong. He wants us to remain in NATO,” the Ohio senator said on NBC. meet the press In an interview broadcast on Sunday. “But he also wants NATO countries to actually shoulder the burden of defense.”
President Trump has regularly boasted that during his time in the White House, pressure on European allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization prompted him to increase defense spending. At a rally in February, he caused concern by saying that he once told leaders at a NATO meeting: He will tell Russia to do ‘whatever they want’ To those who failed to fulfill their obligations.
Asked for a direct answer, Vance said on NBC: “We will remain in NATO.”
Vance has failed to set clear conditions for the U.S. to remain in NATO, criticizing the imbalance in commitments made by member states, and Europe’s largest economy has been a frequent target of pressure during Trump’s presidency. Named Germany.
“Effectively, it’s the UK, some other countries and the US,” he said. “The problem for NATO is that Germany in particular has to spend more on security and defense.”
read more: Germany angers EU leaders with resistance to joint defense funding
Mr. Vance avoided describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as an enemy, suggesting that Putin’s cooperation would be needed “to end the war in Ukraine.” He said China is the biggest threat to the United States.
“I think he’s clearly an enemy,” Vance said of Putin. “He’s a competitor.”
