Donald sets terms for defending North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies

The Republican candidate for the White House said he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries “have fulfilled their obligations to us”.

Mr. Trump has publicly welcomed praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling MSNBC in December that, “when people call you brilliant, that’s always good, especially when the person heads up Russia”.

“The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country – yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the USA, once more, to make up the difference”, Gates charged then in Brussels.

The Republican nominee told the New York Times that before he’d intervene to help Baltic members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in a potential crisis with Russian Federation, he’d review whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us”.

“They have an obligation to make payments”, Trump said in the interview. It was consistent, however, with his previous threat to withdraw American forces from Europe and Asia if those allies fail to pay more for American protection.

“Regardless of who will be the president of America, we will trust in America”, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite told reporters in Vilnius in remarks that were echoed by Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.

“What John Kerry said to me, a week ago, when I got this job, is what he and the Americans were wanting to see was more United Kingdom, not less UK”.

But even before all this happened, the still presumptive but already presumptuous Republican presidential nominee put his foot once more in his mouth showing once again his ignorance and immaturity and displaying his total lack of commitment and ability to lead the free world.

The reaction of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite was one of disbelief that any USA president would shirk treaty obligations.

“It’s the end of NATO”, Robert Hunter, a former US ambassador to the alliance under President Bill Clinton, told Reuters.

“Mr. Trump is committed to supporting North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, but by god we are going to have to take a look at things”.

In response to this, the Wall Street Journal reported that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement saying, “I will not interfere in the USA election campaign, but what I can do is say what matters for NATO”.

World leaders reacted quickly. Graham said, adding he hoped Mr. Trump would correct himself.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday that the USA commitment to mutual defense is “ironclad”.

Back in the United States, criticism, including some from Trumps fellow Republicans, was blistering. “The U.S. commitment to that pledge is iron-clad”, Earnest said.

Indeed, Trumps suggestion, in an interview with the Times, would upend decades of American foreign policy and rock the security structures that have underpinned European and global stability since the end of World War II.

Sullivan noted that Trump has a “bizarre and occasionally obsequious fascination” when it comes to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump supporters succeeded in preventing a reference to arming Ukraine from getting into this year’s platform, but the manifesto itself is demonstrably not pro-Russia.

Donald Trump is no longer the “presumptive” Republican presidential nominee. This situation threatens Russia’s dominance over the supply of natural gas to countries in Eastern and Central Europe.

Republicans’ tacit acceptance of the self-described billionaire’s unorthodox positions is already affecting the party as it embraces platform language that’s friendlier to Russia’s ambitions in Europe ― and to the interests of top Trump lieutenants who would directly benefit from less punishment for Russian belligerence overseas.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Lee, Vivian Salama, Erica Werner, John-Thor Dahlberg, Liudas Dapkus, Jari Tanner, Matti Huuhtanen and Monika Scislowska of The Associated Press; by Carol Morello of The Washington Post; by Sewell Chan of The New York Times; and by Toluse Olorunnipa, Andy Sharp and Aaron Eglitis of Bloomberg News.