Former President Donald Trump said Saturday he would encourage Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" if it attacked a NATO country that didn't pay enough for defense.
His comments drew fierce backlash from some Republicans, the White House and leading Western officials, with the head of the trans-Atlantic alliance suggesting they could put the lives of American and European soldiers at greater risk.
The comments will do little to ease concerns in Europe about U.S. dependability, with military aid that Ukraine desperately needs held up in Congress and the front-runner for the GOP nomination now reiterating his long-standing skepticism of America's historical commitments to its allies.
Speaking to supporters at a rally in South Carolina, Trump recounted an exchange from his time in office with the leader of a "big country" who asked whether it would be protected if Russia attacked.
Trump said he told the leader that the U.S. government would not protect the bloc if it didn't pay its fair share in defense spending.
"I said: 'You didn't pay? You're delinquent?'" Trump recalled. "No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills."
The White House said Trump's latest comments were "appalling and unhinged."
"Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged — and it endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home," spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement Saturday night.
"Rather than calling for wars and promoting deranged chaos, President Biden will continue to bolster American leadership and stand up for our national security interests — not against them," he said.
Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told NBC News: "Democrat and media pearl-clutchers seem to have forgotten that we had four years of peace and prosperity under President Trump, but Europe saw death and destruction under Obama-Biden and now more death and destruction under Biden. President Trump got our allies to increase their NATO spending by demanding they pay up, but Joe Biden went back to letting them take advantage of the American taxpayer. When you don't pay your defense spending you can't be surprised that you get more war."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance "remains ready and able to defend all allies. Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response."
Stoltenberg cautioned that "any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk."
But he added: "I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election the U.S. will remain a strong and committed NATO ally."
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also criticized Trump.
"NATO's motto 'one for all, all for one' is a concrete commitment. Undermining the credibility of allied countries means weakening the entire NATO," he wrote on X. "No election campaign is an excuse for playing with the security of the alliance."
Yes, but there is something incomprehensible about it.
Everyone feels Trump shouldn't have said these words, why?
Because he put himself in the position of a boss of the American Mafia in the 1920s.
As I have already written, at that time mafia gangs forced shopkeepers and restaurateurs to pay tribute... in exchange for protection FROM THEMSELVES!
And this is a very exact analogy, because the USA has the most military bases and biological laboratories in the world. IT IS THE USA ARRANGE AND PROVOKE MOST OF THE WORLD'S WARS!
He didn't gain anything from it, he only lost both in the USA and in the world.
So why did he do it??