By Mark Serrano for RealClearDefense
The mainstream media and political establishment are outraged by Donald Trump’s latest comments on NATO. Instead of all this dramatic pearl-gathering, they should embrace his position.
Trump recently issued a stark warning to America’s NATO allies, particularly those who still fail to meet their pledge to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense. Recounting a conversation he had with the leader of a rogue NATO member who sought reassurance that America would defend his country from Russian attack, Trump said he would let Russia do “whatever the hell it wants” to countries of NATO who refuse to make minimum expenditures. towards your own defense.
This is not a new concept, and it is not as “shocking” as the media and political elites would have you believe.
For the past 70 years, NATO has maintained a basic guideline for defense spending that is understood and formally accepted by all 31 member states. In 2014, alliance members agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense by 2024. This makes perfect sense. What good is an alliance if one or more parties to the agreement let their military capabilities atrophy to the point that they cannot provide meaningful aid in an emergency?
Unfortunately, only 18 of NATO’s 31 members are currently meeting their defense spending obligations. The list of offenders includes countries that Should be among the major NATO armies, such as France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Turkey. Notably, nearly all countries facing a credible threat from Russia – such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland – are already spending at least 2% of GDP on defense.
American politicians, especially on the Republican side, have been pointing out for decades that European nations have sheltered for free under the umbrella of American defense and spent their savings to support massive welfare states. The only reason they could afford to do so is because the United States made it clear that it would come to their aid without question or reservation if they were ever attacked.
Why buy the cow when you get free milk?
Donald Trump holds the same view that has long been dominant in conservative circles: Our NATO allies should spend enough to maintain credible military deterrence, both to reduce the likelihood that they will need US help and to make them partners more effective in the event that the United States requests their assistance.
Remember: Article 5 of the NATO Treaty states that an attack on one is an attack on all. We should treat an attack on Warsaw or Paris as an attack on Washington, D.C., and vice versa. But as we saw the only time Article 5 was invoked – after the September 11 attacks – most of our NATO allies are woefully unprepared to engage in any kind of military conflict.
The bigger problem is that they have little incentive to do otherwise. The US Navy ensures freedom of the seas around the world. The U.S. nuclear arsenal provides credible deterrence against hostile actors. The U.S. Air Force and Army are positioned in close proximity to all of our allies to enable rapid reaction to any emerging threat, anywhere in the world.
When Trump was president, he made significant progress in getting our allies to live up to their commitments. But they still have a long way to go.
One relatively cheap way that countries like France and Germany could allay American concerns, which has so far not been discussed publicly, is to start using their militaries to help America.
Once he takes office in 2025, Donald Trump may invoke Article 5 in response to the continued invasion of illegal immigrants across our southern border. Countries that agree to send troops to help us police the border could buy themselves additional time to bring their defense spending down to the 2% minimum, or perhaps even secure a permanent reprieve.
Deploying troops to help secure America’s southern border would send a strong signal that NATO remains relevant in the 21st century.st century, and that our allies take seriously their responsibilities in assisting each other in defense. Perhaps more importantly, it is difficult to imagine a more effective way to get into President Trump’s good graces than to help him solve the problem of illegal immigration, which has animated his political platform from the moment he entered politics.
It certainly worked for Mexico. In recent speeches, Trump effusively praised the Mexican government for sending 28,000 troops to the southern border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering America through Mexico, saying he saw it as Mexico’s way of paying for the wall of confine.
One way or another, our delinquent NATO allies will have to put up or shut up. Trump’s chances of regaining the White House are growing by the day, and part of the reason is that voters support him by taking a tough stance toward “allies” who refuse to bear their share of the burden for mutual defense.
American taxpayers are tired of paying the bill for free riders. The only people who should care about Trump’s latest comments on NATO are the European politicians who have refused to honor their commitments to the alliance.
Marco Serrano is the founder and president of ProActive Strategies and was a senior advisor to the Trump 2020 campaign.
Distributed with permission from RealClearWire.
