President Joe Biden slammed Donald Trump’s recent comments on NATO as he urged the House of Representatives to take up and pass the Senate’s bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan in remarks at the White House on Tuesday.
At a rally Saturday, Trump said Russia should be able to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO member countries that don’t pay their defense spending obligations for the alliance, and said he wouldn’t protect them from Vladimir Putin.
“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. The worst thing is, he means it,” Biden said. “No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.”
“When he looks at NATO, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world,” Biden continued on about his predecessor. “He doesn’t understand that NATO is built on fundamental principles of freedom, security, and national sovereignty. Because for Trump, principles never matter; everything is transactional.”
“He doesn’t understand that the sacred commitment we’ve given works for us as well,” the president added. “In fact, I would remind Trump and all those who would walk away from NATO, Article 5 has only been invoked once — just once — in our NATO history. And it was done to stand with America after we were attacked on 9/11. We should never forget it.”
