Political News, Now.
Donald Trump Says NATO is ‘Obsolete,’ UN is ‘Political Game’
Updated, 7:29 p.m. | RACINE,
Wis. — Donald J. Trump on Saturday went further than ever before in his
criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, telling a crowd
here that he would be fine if NATO broke up.
Mr. Trump had
previously questioned the need for the organization, and on Saturday he
reiterated his criticism that other NATO countries were “not paying
their fair share” in comparison with the United States.
“That means we are
protecting them, giving them military protection and other things, and
they’re ripping off the United States. And you know what we do?
Nothing,” Mr. Trump said at a subdued rally here on the outskirts of
Milwaukee. “Either they have to pay up for past deficiencies or they
have to get out.”
“And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” he concluded.
The role of the United
States in NATO has become a point of contention here between Mr. Trump
and his chief rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as the candidates battle
to win the state’s 42 delegates in Tuesday’s primary. Mr. Cruz has
criticized Mr. Trump’s comments on NATO, saying that the United States
needed to support the organization’s fight against terrorism and to
counterbalance Russia’s influence.
On Saturday, as he did in an interview with The New York Times last week, Mr. Trump painted the organization as old and out of date.
“It was really designed for the Soviet Union, which doesn’t exist anymore,” Mr. Trump said. “It wasn’t designed for terrorism.”
Later, at an event in Wausau, Wis., Mr. Trump seemed to acknowledge the controversy his initial remarks about NATO had prompted.
“I said here’s the
problem with NATO: it’s obsolete,” Mr. Trump said, recounting his
comments. “Big statement to make when you don’t know that much about it,
but I learn quickly.”
In the Times
interview, Mr. Trump also said he was open to allowing Japan and South
Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals rather than relying on the
United States for protection. The United States has been wary of nuclear
proliferation in the Asia Pacific region, and President Obama on Friday
rebuked Mr. Trump for his comments, saying he worried the real estate
billionaire “doesn’t know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or
the Korean Peninsula or the world generally.”
Mr. Trump responded
Saturday, saying at his first event, “I didn’t say anything about
letting Japan go nuclear.” But, he continued, “We have to let them take
care of themselves and if that means they have to some day get nuclear
weapons — in all fairness folks, I don’t really like this — eventually
they’re going to want to get them anyway.”
At his second event,
he returned to the question of a nuclear Japan, arguing both sides of
the issue in almost the same sentence.
“I would rather have
them not arm, but I’m not going to continue to lose this tremendous
amount of money,” Mr. Trump said. “And frankly, the case could be made,
that let them protect themselves against North Korea. They’d probably
wipe them out pretty quick.”
A fight between Japan and North Korea, he added, would be “a terrible thing,” but he framed the scenario in financial terms.
“Good luck, folks,
enjoy yourself,” he said. “If they fight, that would be terrible, right?
But if they do, they do. We can’t be the policemen to the world and
have $19 trillion in debt, going up to $21 trillion and we’re sitting on
a bubble that’s going to explode and we’re going to all end up you know
where.”
In Wausau, Mr. Trump
also turned his attention to the United Nations, warning that it could
meet a fate similar to NATO under a Trump administration. “By the way,
United Nations — same thing, smaller numbers,” he said, seeming to call
for a pared-down version of the intergovernmental organization.
“Where do you ever see
the United Nations?” Mr. Trump continued. “Do they ever settle
anything? It’s just like a political game. The United Nations — I mean
the money we spend on the United Nations.”
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