By Mark Gray
6:00pm PST, Feb 15, 2024
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At a political rally on Feb. 10, Donald Trump stunned many when he said that under his rule, the United States would not protect fellow NATO countries if they lagged on their membership payments. In fact, he plainly stated he "would encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to a "delinquent" member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "No, I would not protect you… You got to pay your bills," the presidential candidate said.
In the wake of his controversial comments, politicians entertainers and more reacted…
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"If my opponent, Donald Trump, is able to regain power, he is making it clear as day that he will abandon our NATO allies if Russia attacks and allow Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' with them. Serving as Commander-in-Chief is the ultimate responsibility and one that should weigh heavily on the individuals that hold this office. Donald Trump's admission that he intends to give Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous. Sadly, they are also predictable coming from a man who is promising to rule as a dictator like the ones he praises on day one if he returns to the oval office." —President Joe Biden
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"Trump sells out our NATO allies to Putin. This should be front-page news of every paper in the country. These are the stakes of 2024." —former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
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"He doesn't talk like a traditional politician … I have zero concern" –Senator Marco Rubio via CNN
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"Why should America automatically defend NATO countries that don't spend 2% of GDP on defence as they're required to do? 19 of the 31 member states still don't include Germany & France, and Trump's absolutely right to call them out on it. Pay up or pay the price." —Piers Morgan
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"Trump not only wants to destroy American Democracy, his alliance with Vladimir Putin will destroy Democracy around the world." —Rob Reiner on X
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"Trump's ties to Russia and Putin are well known. Basically, Trump is a traitor to the American way of life that our soldiers have died for." —Stephen King on X
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"Both Biden and Trump have gaffes. Both are up there in years. But only one of them says that he would give Carte Blanche to Putin. Think about that." —Joy Behar on X
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"NATO is the most successful military alliance in history. It's essential to deterring war & defending American security. No sane American President would encourage Putin to attack our NATO allies. No honorable American leaders would excuse or endorse this." —former Congresswoman Liz Cheney
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"This is why I've been saying for a long time that he's unfit to be president of the United States." —former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie
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"Donald Trump has just asked Vladimir Putin to attack our NATO allies in Europe. Just putting aside the complete moral bankruptcy of that — 2 of our NATO allies in Europe are nuclear armed. He's asking Putin to start WW3 — and he would have the U.S. on the side of Putin." —Rep. Jasmine Crockett
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"Trump bragged that he'd encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to our NATO allies if they didn't spend enough on defense. He's more interested in aggrandizing himself and pleasing Putin than protecting our allies. It would be enough to make Reagan ill" —Rep. Adam Schiff
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"Biden: 14.8m jobs; lower costs for insulin; repairs to road/bridges; health care for vets; cleaning up the environment; stronger alliances. And yes: mixed up a country leader's name. And this happened, too," Rep. Rick Larsen wrote on X, linking to a clip of the former POTUS' remarks, asking, "Is there really a choice?"
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"I guess the Scolding Industrial Complex is gonna tell us not to say Russia Trump Trump Russia but honestly this seems kinda important" —Sen. Brian Schatz
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"…the fact that Donald Trump yesterday suggested that Vladimir Putin should have free rein in attacking NATO allies. And what did we see when we wake up this morning? Wall-to-wall coverage of whether a guy who's four years older than his opponent is too old to be president." —White House press secretary-turned-MSNBC host Jen Psaki
