Trump's USA NATO's future

Wide criticism of Trump's threat to leave NATO: "Dangerous"

Former top Republican and Senator Mitch McConnell joins Democrats and supports the US's continued membership in NATO, writes The Hill.

- NATO is the most successful military alliance in history. It has been a foundation for US security for more than 70 years, says McConnell in a joint statement with Democratic Senator Chris Coons.

Donald Trump said earlier this week that he is considering leaving NATO because no member countries helped the US in the war against Iran. The American president called the alliance a "paper tiger".

"It is not a 'paper tiger'", writes Senator Mark Warner from the Democrats and calls Trump's threat to leave the alliance "reckless, dangerous" and that it plays right into the hands of his opponents. 

Sources: Nothing indicates that Trump's threat is real

There is nothing to indicate that Donald Trump is about to make the NATO exit he is considering a reality. This is stated by several sources for Politico.

The site has spoken to sources within NATO, the Pentagon and Congress who all say the same thing: the US is not about to leave.

- There is no evidence that it is real, says one of the sources.

He has painted the fact that NATO countries did not help him attack Iran as some kind of last straw and told The Telegraph on Wednesday that he is "more than considering" leaving.

However, Trump cannot do it on his own because of a law that his current Secretary of State Marco Rubio ensured would be put in place in 2023.

“I can promise you this: The Senate will not vote to leave NATO and abandon our allies just because Trump is upset that they did not want to support his irresponsible war,” writes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on X. 

Analysis: Every Threat to Leave NATO Erodes the Alliance

Donald Trump’s threat to leave NATO has so far only resulted in one thing: uniting other allies against the American president. Tim Ross and Eva Hartog write in an analysis in Politico.

Ross and Hartog write that it is “remarkable” how united European leaders have been in their rejection of sending military resources to Iran, despite Trump’s frustration.

In an analysis in the BBC, Lyse Doucet writes that virtually all NATO members have sharply increased their defense spending recently, partly as a consequence of Trump's threats.

"This new crisis will once again strengthen the determination of European countries and Canada to strengthen their own defenses and rely on themselves for their own security," she writes.

The New York Times' Steven Erlanger notes that this is not the first time Trump has threatened to leave NATO.

"But the more he slanders NATO and threatens to abandon it, the more the alliance is eroded," he writes in an analysis.