Donald Trump gives NATO new reason to be nervous: defending Montenegro

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump pushes his way through NATO leaders President Donald Trump appeared to push himself past the prime minister of Montenegro during a tour of NATO's new headquarters. (May 25)

WASHINGTON – NATO members already worried about President Donald Trump's commitment to the European defense alliance have a new reason to be nervous.

Montenegro, or at least Trump's latest comments about it.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News, Trump again seemed to question the NATO commitment to mutual defense, and cited the alliance's newest member – Montenegro – as an example.

When Carlson asked, "why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack," Trump responded: "I understand what you're saying. I've asked the same question."

Trump went on to say that Montenegro, a small Balkan country on the Adriatic Sea, could somehow be the instigator of conflict, as opposed to, say, a country like Russia.

Montenegro has "very aggressive people," Trump said. "They may get aggressive and congratulations, you're in World War III. Now I understand that ... but that's the way it was set up."

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Supporters of NATO – many of whom are also concerned about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin – pointed out that NATO's mutual defense commitment is a deterrent, and has largely kept the peace in Europe since World War II.

"Alliance trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets," tweeted Mark Hertling, a former U.S. Army commander in Europe.

Article 5 of the NATO charter says "the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all," and that they agree to "assist the Party or Parties so attacked."

During his recent trip to Europe, Trump criticized NATO members by saying they were not contributing enough to the alliance, and he has frequently questioned NATO's relevance in the modern world.

Trump mentioned NATO costs in his interview with Carson, telling him: "Add that to your little equation on Montenegro."

The president taped the interview after his much-criticized news conference with Putin, another NATO critic.

Many NATO members regard Putin as a threat, citing his seizure of the Crimea region of Ukraine and his cyberattacks on a variety of countries – including the United States during Trump's presidential election in 2016.

Putin has angrily criticized NATO expansion. In 2016, he and Russia were accused of fomenting a coup in a country as it applied to join NATO: Montenegro.

Trump also has previous history of sorts with the small Balkan nation: During the NATO summit last year, Trump pushed aside Montenegro Prime Minister Dusko Markovic to get to the front row for a photo op.



