“In all likelihood, he will fit his commentary and narrative with a success factor no matter how unsuccessful he is in regard to policy,” one investor predicts | John Moore/Getty Images Donald Trump: I won’t automatically back NATO allies Trump said he would only defend fellow NATO members if they contributed to the alliance.

Donald Trump, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate, would not necessarily defend NATO allies if they were attacked or pressure authoritarian allies to protect civil liberties, he said in an interview with the New York Times.

Trump said he would not automatically uphold the security guarantees that ensure the U.S. would defend the 27 other NATO countries.

Speaking specifically about Russia, he said that if the country attacked NATO members in the Baltics, he would only back them if they "fulfilled their obligations to us" and contributed to the alliance.

Trump expressed support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and said he would not be speaking out against him or other authoritarian allies who crack down on political adversaries and civil liberties.

“I don’t think we have a right to lecture,” Trump said. “When the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don’t think we are a very good messenger.”

Trump praised Erdoğan's ability to recover from the coup and dismissed the idea that it was staged. “I give great credit to him for being able to turn that around,” he said. “Some people say that it was staged ... I don’t think so.”

The interview comes as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Reuters on Wednesday that Trump was a threat to U.S., European and world security with his "politics of fear and isolation."