‘Stupid thing to say’: Republicans divided on Trump threat to violate Nato defence pledge

Donald Trump gave another sign that he would oversee the disintegration of the Nato alliance Saturday evening in South Carolina, but his comments were met by a collective shrug from his party, even among those once considered to be some of the strongest defence hawks in Washington.

“If we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” Trump claimed to remember a Nato member-state’s leader asking him when he was president. He then claimed to have responded: “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”

Mr Trump’s remarks were not the first to throw into question the future of one of the world’s most significant and consequential military alliances, one that saw countries come to the US’s aid after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But they were his most plain-spoken threat so far: A stunning vow to encourage and support Russian military action against Nato members who did not meet the alliances benchmarks for defence spending.

The reaction from Nato itself was swift.

“Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk,” said Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

But it drew cheers from the crowd at his Conway, South Carolina rally, where the former president is seeking to deliver a deathblow to the campaign of Nikki Haley in the former UN ambassador’s home state. Ms Haley, a traditional conservative on the issue of national defence, is a strong supporter of Nato, and attacked Mr Trump in a statement after he disparaged her husband’s military service at the same event.

Ms Haley addressed her rival’s threat to the Nato defence pact on Sunday,