Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Donald Trump would keep the US in NATO if re-elected, although it was important for the transatlantic alliance to be “more than just a welfare client”.
“Donald Trump wants NATO to be strong. He wants us to stay in NATO,” the Ohio senator said on NBC. Meet the press in an interview broadcast Sunday. “But he also wants NATO countries to really shoulder their defense burden.”
Trump has frequently boasted that his pressure on European allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization prompted them to increase defense spending during his time in the White House. At a rally in February, he raised concerns by saying he once told a leader at a NATO meeting that he will tell Russia to do “whatever they want” to those who do not meet their obligations.
“We will stay in NATO,” Vance said on NBC, when pressed for a direct answer.
Without setting clear conditions for the United States to stay in NATO, Vance criticized the imbalance in member countries’ commitments and singled out Germany, Europe’s largest economy and a frequent target of pressure. of Trump during his presidency.
“It’s really the UK, some other countries and the US,” he said. “The problem with NATO especially is that Germany has to spend more on security, has to spend more on defense.”
Read more: Germany upset EU leaders by refusing to fund common defense
Vance refused to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as an enemy, saying his cooperation was necessary “if we want to end the war in Ukraine.” He called China the biggest threat to America.
“I think he is clearly an enemy,” Vance said of Putin. “He’s a competitor.”
