Even by his own exacting standards, Donald Trump’s remarks on Saturday about America’s responsibilities within Nato were deranged and destabilising. At a rally in South Carolina, the former president claimed that he had once been asked by the leader of a member-state not meeting its financial commitments to the alliance: “If we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” He had, he said, replied: “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”
To this, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, responded clearly and correctly. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US,” he said, “and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.” Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, rejected the remarks of the likely Republican presidential nominee as “not responsible or sensible”.
