European leaders, Republicans and White House criticise presidential hopeful after he says he will review financial contributions made by Baltic States

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Donald Trump’s suggestion that the United States may not automatically defend Nato allies under attack has been condemned by European leaders and the White House, as well as prominent Republican party figures.

The suggestion, made by the party’s presidential nominee in an interview with the New York Times, would turn decades of US foreign policy on its head and call into question the structures that have underpinned European and global stability since 1945.

Trump said that he would review the financial contributions made by Nato members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania before acting under the treaty’s mutual defence clause if any of those countries were attacked by Russia.



Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted in response that his country “fought, with no caveats” on behalf of the US in Afghanistan. His Lithuanian counterpart, Dalia Grybauskaitė, said: “Regardless of who will be the president of America, we will trust in America.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he totally disagreed with Trump’s statement, but was willing to “chalk it up to a rookie mistake”. He described Nato as the world’s most successful military alliance.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump opponent, said he was certain that Trump’s statement would make Russian president Vladimir Putin “a very happy man”.

The Nato alliance agreement was crystal clear, said its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. “We defend one another. Two world wars have shown that peace in Europe is also important for the security of the United States.”

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, sought to reassure Nato’s other members. “This administration, like every single administration, Republican and Democrat alike since 1949, remains fully committed to the Nato alliance,” he said.

Some US administrations have complained that many Nato members do not pay their fair share of the alliance’s bills. The US accounts for more than 70% of all Nato spending, while only four other members – Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland – meet the minimum 2% of GDP spending on defence required by the alliance.

