Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard expressed agreement with former President Donald Trump’s stance on NATO funding, citing her support for some of the real-world issues Trump discussed during his presidency. Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” presented Gabbard’s comments in her interpretation of Trump’s position regarding NATO and other nation’s involvement and funding of the military alliance. According to Gabbard, these issues are significant and deserving of serious attention and examination by the American people and related NATO members.
Gabbard further emphasized that Trump’s questions about NATO have highlighted deep-rooted doubts about the organization’s role and whether its membership serves the United States’ national security interests. She asked how much American people are willing to invest in their taxpayer dollars and lives, as well as how much other NATO members are willing to allocate in funds and the lives of their citizens. Gabbard declared that Americans should not be expected to bear most of the NATO funding burden while other members failed to meet their obligations.
Gabbard’s statements add to the ongoing debate about NATO and President Trump’s remarks about the defense funding of its members. During his presidency, Trump had often criticized countries which he claimed weren’t paying enough to NATO and had questions regarding the collective defense principle under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which considers an armed attack against an alliance member as an attack against all members.
Following Gabbard’s comments and Trump’s recent statements, criticism of his remarks came from European leaders and the Biden administration, particularly about concerns regarding the collective defense clause and NATO members’ defense spending. Despite the criticism, Gabbard argued Democrats were reluctant to initiate a conversation about NATO member spending or why it took President Trump to push these countries to meet the minimum requirement to sustain their NATO membership. Gabbard urged for acknowledgment of this issue within the U.S. and among NATO members as well.