State Dept. reminds Trump NATO triggered Art. 5 after 9/11 first – and so far only – time

NATO primarily provides protection for the United States, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in reaction to the statement of the former American president Donald Trump, who said that he would encourage Russia to attack NATO countries that "do not contribute enough" to the Alliance.

"This isn’t just a benefit – this isn’t just an Alliance that the United States puts into; we also get a lot out of this Alliance. And the only time that NATO has ever come to the defense of one of its member countries, it was coming to the defense of the United States after 9/11," said Miller.

He emphasized that the support of NATO among the American people and the Congress is broad. In addition, the spokesman recalled the words of the current US President Joe Biden that "any suggestion that encouraging Russia to invade our allies and partners is dangerous."

Biden criticized Trump's statement, calling him a "useful lackey" of Vladimir Putin.

The head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said that NATO "cannot be an 'a la carte' military alliance dependent on the whims of the US president."

Nikki Haley, the candidate for the position of president of the US from the Republican Party and Trump's main competitor, said that "you cannot take the side of someone who has gone and invaded a country and half a million people have died or been wounded because of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."