Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. has never needed NATO’s help, apparently forgetting how allied nations came to America’s aid after September 11 and died assisting US forces on the frontlines of Afghanistan.
One day after softening his bid to seize Greenland in the wake of global pushback, the U.S. president has once again raised eyebrows on the world stage for his latest misreading of history.
Speaking to Fox Business on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Trump questioned NATO’s loyalty, asking: “Will they be there if we ever need them?”
“We’ve never needed them,” he told Maria Bartiromo.
“We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, and they did—they stayed a little back, little off the front lines. But we’ve been very good to Europe and to many other countries.”
Trump’s comments came despite NATO coming to America’s aid in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
This set the stage for the alliance’s involvement in expanded patrols over North America and later, a major military engagement in Afghanistan, where soldiers from NATO countries—including UK, France and Germany—suffered more than 1100 casualties. Denmark, which Trump has pressured to hand over Greenland, suffered the highest number of casualties per capita.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday confronted Trump over similar claims he made on Wednesday, when he once again questioned the loyalty of America’s European allies.
In a speech that Trump’s supporters described as “historic”—while opponents branded it as “unhinged”—the president excoriated NATO, took aim at Denmark, and lashed out at the leaders of the UK, France and Canada, who had earlier pushed back against him.
But during a bilateral meeting after the speech, Rutte told Trump: “There’s one thing I heard you say yesterday and today: you were not absolutely sure that Europeans would come to the rescue of the U.S. if you will be attacked. Let me tell you, they will.”
“We did it in Afghanistan, as you know, for every two Americans who paid the ultimate price there was one soldier from another NATO country who did not come back to his family,” said the NATO secretary-general.
“So you can be assured, absolutely, if ever the U.S. will be under attack, your allies will be with you.”
Established in the aftermath of World War 2, NATO—or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—is governed by a collective-defense clause known as Article 5.
This states that an armed attack against one member “shall be considered an attack against them all,” obligating allies to assist one another, including by using armed force.
But the alliance has only ever invoked Article 5 once: after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Trump initially refused to rule out invading Greenland with military force, a move that could have invoked the use of Article 5 against America. However, he has since backed away from this idea, and after meeting Rutte on Wednesday, announced he had formed a “framework for a future deal.”
The announcement came with no details but was a major softening of the president’s rhetoric. But one idea NATO members have discussed as part of a compromise was for Denmark and the alliance to work with the U.S. to build more American military bases on Greenland.
Trump also withdrew his threat to impose 10 percent tariffs on eight European nations objecting to the sale of Greenland to the U.S., set to rise to 25 percent later in the year if no deal was reached, and vowed not to use military force.
Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, Trump claimed, “We’re getting everything we wanted,” even though his initial bid was for the U.S. to have control of the island.
“So what are we talking about? An acquisition of Greenland? Are you going to pay for it?” Bartiromo pressed.
“I mean, we’re talking about it, it’s really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it’s total access. There’s no end, there’s no time limit,” Trump responded.
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