Let’s Get It Right On Trump, Biden NATO Stances
By Dr. Lucja Swiatkowski Cannon
Monday, 22 July 2024 01:22 PM EDT
At the concluding press conference of the NATO summit, President Joe Biden addressed himself to the unsuitability of former President Donald Trump as the leader of NATO. He said that Trump did not have a commitment to NATO and will not support Ukraine.
In response to a question, Biden stated that Trump is a disaster with proclivity to authoritarians, implying that he supported Putin, and that, therefore, Europe, and especially Poland, should be worried if he becomes the president. Under his own leadership the alliance is strong and supporting Ukraine, Biden said.
If Trump stops giving aid, Putin will come to the borders of NATO and this will not be the end of it, he might threaten neighboring NATO countries, Biden added.
This Biden rhetorical presentation was pure politics because it did not take account of Trump’s actual actions when he was the president nor his recent political statements.
First of all, Biden seized upon Trump’s criticism of NATO members who do not spend 2% of their GDP on defense, especially Germany. This is a constant feature of Trump’s campaigns.
Two percent is a standard that was adopted in 2014, and in 2016 only a few countries met it. In 2024, 10 years later and under conditions of war in Ukraine at Europe’s doorstep, only 23 of 32 members meet this standard.
On the 70th anniversary of NATO on April 3, 2019, Vice President Mike Pence, on behalf of the Trump administration, emphasized that NATO is “a mutual defense pact, not a unilateral security agreement.” He also criticized Germany for construction of the Nordstream 2 pipeline and the German hub to distribute Russian gas in Europe.
He feared that Germany will become “a captive of Russia.” Common sense indicates that criticism of weaknesses indicates a desire for improvement and strengthening it.
Furthermore, on numerous public occasions, Trump declared his commitment to NATO. On his trip to Poland on July 6, 2017 he stated: Both the United States and Poland reaffirm their commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including the commitments made in Articles 3 and 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, as the cornerstone of our defense relationship.
Pence on the 70th anniversary of NATO stated that: “The United States has been faithful to Europe for generations, and we’ll keep the faith. We’ll keep the faith that drove our forefathers to sacrifice so much in the defense of freedom. We share a past. We built it together. And we share a future. Today, tomorrow, and every day, you can be confident the United States of America is now and will always be Europe’s greatest ally. “
When attending the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II as a substitute for Trump in September 2019, Pence said: “our commitment to our NATO Alliance is unwavering….This is the strongest Alliance in the history of the world and President Trump’s leadership and your example here in Poland is making it stronger.”
But Trump not only made declarations in order to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense efforts, he increased the presence of the U.S. military personnel in Poland. In August 2020, the Trump administration signed an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Poland and established the Forward Command Headquarters of the V Corps of U.S. Army to Poland with its attendant functions of intelligence, surveillance and infrastructure.
This group will command not only U.S. forces in Poland but the whole eastern flank of NATO. The administration also moved additional U.S. troops to Poland and planned to move more from Germany.
