Trump will quit NATO, Hillary Clinton says, as anxiety mounts over U.S. commitment to the alliance

MUNICH,
Germany
—
NATO
members
on
Saturday
weighed
the
U.S.’
possible
withdrawal
from
the
military
alliance
if
Donald
Trump
returns
to
the
White
House,
with
Hillary
Clinton
saying
he
would
waste
no
time
in
quitting
if
re-elected.

Clinton
urged
delegates
at
the
Munich
Security
Conference
to
take
her
one-time
presidential
rival’s
tough
talk
“literally
and
seriously”
as
anxiety
mounts
over
the
future
of
the
U.S.-led
pact.

“He
will
pull
us
out
of
NATO,”
Clinton
told
attendees
during
a
lunchtime
session.

Trump
stoked
fresh
concerns
over
the
U.S.’
commitment
to
NATO
last
weekend
when
he
said
he
would

“encourage”
Russia
to
attack
any
member
that
doesn’t
meet
its
spending
targets.
He
has
long
criticized
the
alliance’s
failure
to
ensure
members
make
good
on
their
obligation
to
contribute
2%
of
gross
domestic
product
to
defense.

Amid
such
rhetoric,
the
U.S.
Congress

passed
a
bill
in
December
aimed
at
preventing
any
U.S.
president
from
unilaterally
withdrawing
from
the
alliance
without
congressional
approval.

U.S.
Republican
Senator
Jim
Risch,
ranking
member
of
the
Senate
Committee
on
Foreign
Relations,
on
Saturday
dismissed
talk
of
the
U.S.
quitting
NATO,
saying:
“We
have
answered
that
question.”

“It
would
take
a
two-thirds
vote
in
the
United
States
Senate
to
get
out
—
that
is
never
going
to
happen,”
he
told
CNBC
in
Munich.

Clinton
said,
however,
that
Trump
could
actually
just
refuse
to
fund
the
alliance.
“The
U.S.
will
be
there
in
name
only,”
she
said.

Concerns
over
the
U.S.
and
Europe’s
continued
military
coordination
have
dominated
discussions
at
this
year’s
annual
defense
summit
in
Germany,
as
the
specter
of
a
second
Trump
presidency
looms
large
and
a
contentious
aid
package
for
Ukraine
hangs
in
the
balance
in
the
U.S.
House
of
Representatives.

Dutch
Prime
Minister
Mark
Rutte
earlier
Saturday
referenced
constant
“moaning
and
whining”
at
the
event
about
the
future
of
NATO
under
Trump.

“Stop
moaning
and
whining
and
nagging
about
Trump,”
he
said.

He
was
one
of
many
European
voices,
including
that
of
German
Chancellor
Olaf
Scholz
and
Danish
Prime
Minister
Mette
Frederiksen,
who
said
that
Europe
needed
to
become
self-sufficient
in
the
face
of
a
more
uncertain
future
with
its
closest
diplomatic
ally.

“No
matter
what
happens
in
the
U.S.
…
we
have
to
be
able
to
protect
ourselves,”
Frederiksen
said.

Indeed,
Germany’s
defense
minister
said
that
his
country’s
commitment
to
spend
2%
of
GDP
on
defense
should
be

just
the
start,
noting
that
the
threshold
could
rise
to
3.5%
if
necessary.

NATO
Secretary-General
Jens
Stoltenberg
struck
a
more
sanguine
tone
on
transatlantic
coordination,
however,
saying
that
believes
the
U.S.
will
remain
“a
staunch
and
committed
NATO
ally”
whatever
happens
in
the
upcoming
election.

“I
expect
that
regardless
of
the
outcome
of
the
U.S.
elections
in
November,
the
U.S.
will
remain
a
staunch
and
committed
NATO
ally,”
he
told
CNBC’s
Silvia
Amaro.

“It
is
in
the
security
interests
of
the
United
States
to
have
a
strong
NATO,”
he
added.

Stoltenberg
acknowledged
Trump’s
frustration
with
member
spending,
but
said
“that
is
now
changing.”
On
Wednesday,
NATO
announced
that
18
of
the
alliance’s
31
members
will
meet
the
2%
spending
target
this
year.

NATO
member
countries
first

committed
to
minimum
spending
targets
in
2006,
but
by
2014
only
three
had
met
the
threshold.

The
alliance
will
mark
its
75th
anniversary
this
year
at
an
annual
summit
to
be
held
in
Washington
in
July.

Senator
Risch
said
he
would
like
to
see
all
members
committing
to
meeting
their
target
by
that
point.

“Talk
about
it
happening
years
in
the
future
isn’t
now,
and
we’re
always
interested
in
now,”
he
said.
“That’s
helpful
to
the
relationship:
everybody
keeping
the
commitments
that
they
made.”