Wasn’t United States President Donald Trump supposed to put an end to NATO, or at the very least exit the global organization? It seems like that is just a pipe dream, especially after the latest reports that a Trump aide is in favor of adding another nation to the military alliance.
According to a new report from Politico, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is urging the president to support the addition of Montenegro into the NATO military alliance.
Ostensibly, this move would upset Russia because of the growing tensions between Moscow and Montenegro. Russia believes NATO is trying to enhance its encroachment of Russian borders, while Montenegro has accused the Kremlin of interfering in its own elections.
“What Russia has done against Montenegro is a unique case,” said Jorge Benitez, NATO expert at the Atlantic Council, in an interview with the website. “No NATO candidate country has ever faced such a dire attack or threat in the process of finishing its membership into the alliance.”
It remains unclear if Trump would support the NATO expansion.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump called NATO an outdated institution and highlighted that the U.S. covers a vast majority of the costs associated with the organization. He also lambasted the trend of American foreign policy of defending other nations’ borders while neglecting its own.
Trump vowed “strong support” for NATO on Monday ahead of a meeting in Brussels.
“We strongly support NATO,” Trump said at the headquarters of US Central Command in Florida. “We only ask that all of the NATO members make their full and proper financial contributions to the NATO alliance, which many of them have not been doing. Many of them have not been even close. And they have to do that.”
Candidate Trump was right when he said NATO was obsolete. President Trump is wrong when he promises strong support for NATO. It is time to disband NATO.
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