France is a loyal and steadfast ally in NATO, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised on Thursday, amid his US counterpart Donald Trump’s repeated doubts about the military alliance.
The French leader invoked a list of historical events whereby France and the US have “always been there for each other,” including namechecking Marquis de Lafayette — a 19th-century French nobleman — who was a major-general in the American army fighting the British during the Revolutionary War.
France had shown “respect and friendship” toward the US, Macron said. “I think we’re entitled to expect the same,” he added.
On Thursday, Trump again cast doubt on whether Washington would defend its NATO allies if they did not pay what he believes was enough for their own defence.
Under Article 5, members of the NATO alliance must help if another member comes under attack.
“It’s common sense, right,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.”
Trump added he had held this view since his first term, when similar comments prompted European members to increase their defence spending to meet the 2% target.
The US president said these efforts were “not enough. They should be paying more.”
Trump also expressed uncertainty about whether NATO members would defend the US if the country were under attack, singling out France as an example of an ally he “wasn’t sure” about.
NATO allies, including France, did however come to the US’ defence after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, when Article 5 was invoked and led to NATO’s largest-ever military operation in Afghanistan.
‘Ironclad’ or not?
Trump’s comments follow those from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last month, who said in a speech that Washington would not participate in a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, and would not come to the defence of any NATO country that did if attacked by Russia.
Despite Trump’s comments, his pick for NATO ambassador, Matt Whitaker, said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that the US commitment to the NATO alliance and Article 5 would be “ironclad.”
NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte also sought to reaffirm the strength of the alliance earlier on Thursday, telling reporters in Brussels: “Let me be clear, the transatlantic relationship and the transatlantic partnership remains the bedrock of our alliance. “
“President Trump has made clear the commitment of the US and his commitment personally to NATO, and it has also made clear the expectation that we in Europe must do more in terms of defence spending,” Rutte added.
Trump has repeatedly cast doubt since his 2016 presidential campaign that the US under his leadership might not comply with the alliance’s mutual defence guarantees if members of the alliance did not increase their defence spending.
On Thursday, Trump said NATO was “potentially good” if what he saw as a spending issue could be fixed. “They’re screwing us on trade,” he concluded.
Last year, the now-former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations had hit their spending targets.
Trump has taken credit for countries meeting those because of his threats, with Stoltenberg himself saying the returning US president was responsible for getting other nations to increase their spending.
