WASHINGTON — Eastern Europe should expect less from the U.S. if Donald Trump wins the presidential election, a top figure in Trump’s circle told POLITICO today.
“The United States has a commitment to come to the aid of NATO countries that are attacked. That is not the same thing as saying we should throw our entire military [to the eastern flank],” said Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense in the first Trump administration.
There’s also a need for eastern flank countries to spend way more than 2 percent of GDP — the NATO target — according to Colby, who’s widely expected to be nominated for a senior job if Trump returns.
“I don’t think it’s pretty impressive that Lithuania is spending 3 percent; Estonia spends 3 percent. If I were them, I would spend 10, if they’re serious about how threatening the Russians are,” he said. “I think what Europeans need to understand is that they need to build up their military as soon as humanly possible.”
“My own personal view is we should commit substantial available forces to the defense of eastern NATO that do not detract from our ability to [defend] the first island chain, in this case, Taiwan,” he added.
He singled out “key capabilities” such as long-range fire, logistics, command control and logistics knowns as C4ISR, munitions and air defense as areas where the U.S. focus should go to Asia, not Europe.
“These are the most important assets, but those are also the assets that are most scarce,” he said.
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