NATO chief calls to hear Trump's message urging European allies to boost defense spending

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is not worried that the United States will leave the Alliance if 45th President Donald Trump returns to the White House, he said in an interview with Politico.

The USA will remain a faithful ally regardless of the results of the presidential elections in November 2024, he believes.

"I worked with former President Trump for the four years he was president," Stoltenberg said.

He noted that NATO has bipartisan support in the US Congress, and Trump's criticism of NATO was directed not against the Alliance, but against individual countries that did not fulfill the promise to spend 2% of GDP on defense by 2024.

"It’s important to listen because the criticism from Trump is not a criticism of NATO not investing enough in NATO," the secretary general said.

A number of US officials believe that after a probable victory in the elections, Trump will appoint people to key government positions who will negatively change the foreign policy of the United States towards China, NATO and Ukraine.

In addition, the US Congress approved a law that prohibits presidents from withdrawing from NATO without the approval of the Senate or an act of Congress. These are preemptive measures based on the concerns of the United States and its European allies about a hypothetical Trump leadership. Analysts believe that Trump, becoming president, may withdraw the United States from NATO.

Trump believes that NATO is not treating the USA "properly".