Trump stands by his threat NOT to defend NATO members who don’t meet defense spending target and says Putin ‘is not a fan of mine’ – after Russian leader said he would prefer ‘predictable Biden’

Donald Trump has again vowed not to defend any NATO country that fails to meet defense spending targets when he returns to the White House.

The claim, which aired at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday, served as a doubling down on a statement he made days earlier.

There, the 77-year-old – who notably refused to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin during his 2016 campaign – said he would urge Russia to “do whatever they want” if it were to attack an alliance member that unpaid. their fair share.

The statement appeared to provoke a response from the Russian leader himself, who praised Joe Biden on Wednesday as a more reliable – and “predictable” – alternative.

This time, the Republican Party’s famous frontrunner was a little less divided on his rhetoric, but still stuck to his guns. He also mentioned Putin’s now widely publicized interview, saying simply that the dictator was “not a fan” of him.

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‘Look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect them. OK?’ he told an animated crowd in North Charleston that NATO countries were not pulling their weight – this time omitting the statement suggesting he didn’t care if Russia attacked them.

He further mentioned Joe Biden, who has relentlessly pushed for a foreign aid package to help Ukraine fight Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Trump said Wednesday that he still opposes that aid and that it should come in the form of a loan instead.

“Why just hand it over to them?” he said — prompting an immediate scathing response from the White House.

“Donald Trump just gave Vladimir Putin the best possible Valentine’s Day gift,” a Biden spokesperson’s statement emphasized — a de facto “pink promise to give Putin the green light to mow down our allies in Europe if he is elected.”

That barb came on top of another insult from Biden this weekend, in which he called Trump’s comments about the North Atlantic Alliance “dangerous,” “un-American” and “shocking.”

Biden has also continued to push for a permanent foreign aid package, having already given the far-flung country more than $75 billion in aid.

Another $95 billion — to be split between Ukraine and Israel — was signed by the Republican-dominated Senate on Tuesday, lighting a fire under Trump after his earlier comments about NATO on Saturday in Conway, South Carolina.

So Trump revised his previous comments about Putin in North Charleston on Wednesday after blasting him so tough and somewhat under his control.

Instead, citing the interview Putin gave to Russian state television on Wednesday, he portrayed the relationship between the two as frosty after the Kremlin boss said he would prefer Biden as president.

Trump said that by praising Biden, Putin “just paid me a big compliment. That’s a good thing.’

Hours earlier, Putin – in his first comments on the looming US election – painted Biden, 81, as a more reasonable choice

“He is a more experienced person, he is predictable, he is an old-fashioned politician,” Putin said, after being asked a question about his co-head of state’s mental acuity.

The 71-year-old Putin, in turn, praised Biden’s presence of mind during their last meeting, three years ago in Geneva.

“Even then there was talk that he was not competent, but I didn’t see anything like that,” he recalled of the G7 summit in June 2021.

“Yes, he looked at his notes, but I looked at mine too. It was nothing.’

Within seven months, Putin would use the Russian army to invade Ukraine, in a war that, at the time of writing, has no end in sight.

Trump’s term, marked by his open admiration for Putin, has posed a challenge to NATO, an organization largely controlled by the United States.

The prospect that he could return to power remains a major concern among some – concerns that were stoked on Saturday when Trump vowed to abandon low-spending countries.

‘You haven’t paid? Are you a delinquent?’ No, I wouldn’t protect you,” Trump said, adding that Russia could do “anything they wanted” to members who did not meet the promised criteria.

‘Actually, I would encourage them to do whatever they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills,” he said.

The comment was met with immediate anger by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who accused Trump of endangering his country’s allies.

“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all our security, including that of the United States, and puts American and European soldiers in greater danger.”

His comments were echoed by several other EU leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was quick to point out that his country shares a land border with Ukraine, where a “hot war” is unfolding.

According to NATO’s mutual defense clause Article 5 of the founding treaty, all allies commit to assisting any member under attack.

The article has been activated only once, by the US in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.