Trump’s threat to abandon NATO allies to Russian attack ‘lands with a thud’ – 83% of US voters call alliance ‘important’ and only a quarter worry about freeloading Europeans
Donald Trump has a knack for saying what many voters want to hear.
But the former president is way off the mark when it comes to standing up for NATO allies in the face of Russian aggression.
This is evident from a Quinnipiac University poll, which shows that American voters firmly support the 74-year-old military alliance and its rock-solid mutual defense guarantee by wide margins.
More than seven in ten respondents called Trump’s approach – to encourage Russia to attack a non-paying NATO member – a ‘bad idea’.
Quinnipiac University’s national survey of 1,421 voters was conducted in mid-February
Barely a fifth called it a ‘good idea’.
Quinnipiac researcher Tim Malloy said Trump’s “tough stance” on NATO allies “hits home with a bang” among the 1,421 respondents.
“American voters confirm that the 31-member security alliance is good not only for Europe, but also for the United States,” Malloy said.
Trump has long worried that America is being screwed over by NATO allies who are not living up to their pledge to spend 2 percent of their economies on defense spending.
Speaking in Conway, South Carolina, earlier this month, the Republican front-runner went further than his previous comments.
He told a story about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him about his threat not to defend members who fail to meet the transatlantic alliance’s defense spending targets.
‘You haven’t paid? Are you a delinquent?’ Trump said the saying.
‘No, I wouldn’t protect you. In fact, I would encourage (Russia) to do whatever they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills.’
Then-President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018
Ukrainian soldiers walk among the rubble after a Russian missile attack in Kharkov: a powerful symbol of the Russian threat to Europe
List of flags of member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at the alliance’s headquarters in Belgium
NATO allies agreed in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, to end post-Cold War austerity and spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024.
According to pollster Tim Malloy, Trump’s NATO policy is “hitting home with a bang” among voters
This year, 18 Allies are expected to achieve that goal – a sixfold increase since 2014, when only three Allies met the directive, NATO says.
Trump’s comments alarmed many because it undermined the collective defense pact at the heart of NATO, known as Article 5 – that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
President Joe Biden called his likely opponent’s comments in the 2024 election “dangerous” and “un-American.”
The comments came as Ukraine was mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s 2022 invasion and as Republicans in Congress grew increasingly skeptical about providing Kiev with more weapons and money.
Quinnipiac polls show that Trump’s views on NATO are not resonating with voters.
More than 71 percent said encouraging Russia to invade an underpaying member was a “bad idea.”
Only 18 percent said it was a ‘good idea’; another 11 percent expressed no opinion.
A giant Ukrainian flag unfurled during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Madrid, Spain, one of NATO’s 31 members
Russian D-30 howitzer crews target their Ukrainian enemies in Kupiansk, in a war that has alarmed NATO members along the Russian border
An overwhelming 83 percent of respondents said U.S. NATO membership was important, while 25 percent said it was not.
Democrats supported NATO more than Republicans.
Still, more Republican voters disagreed with Trump than agreed with him, the poll found.
The national survey of 576 Republicans and 624 Democrats was conducted in mid-February, with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.
NATO – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – currently has 31 members, most of which are European countries, plus the US and Canada.
It was founded in 1949 in response to the Soviet Union as Cold War tensions increased.
NATO makes decisions by consensus, but the US’s political and military strength means it is by far the most powerful in the alliance, with its nuclear arsenal seen as the ultimate security guarantee.