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Trump wanted U.S. to leave NATO last year: report

President Donald Trump said privately several times last year that he wanted to withdraw the U.S. from NATO, the New York Times reported Monday night. Citing senior administration officials, the Times said the idea was expressed around the tumultuous NATO summit last summer in Brussels, with Trump saying he didn't see the point of the U.S. belonging to NATO. Sources told the Times that they worry Trump could again seek to withdraw from NATO now that the calming influence of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is gone and as European military spending continues to lag. Experts told the Times that withdrawing from NATO would be a catastrophe for U.S. foreign policy, sabotaging 70 years of U.S. efforts and handing a huge victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly sought to undermine NATO.

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