Romney Says NATO Members Have Contingencies if Trump Elected in 2024

Enjoy the unity, shared sense of purpose, and the clarity of the mission within the NATO alliance now because the statesmanship, led by the experienced steady hand of President Joe Biden, may fade, fast, if Donald Trump is elected in 2024. Mitt Romney told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that several NATO members have told him that they will “re-think” their own defense should the United States elect Donald Trump in 2024.

It would appear that our “allies” do not consider us an ally if we’re led by an autocrat that disdains democratic leaders more than the world’s worst killers.

Hunt asked Sen. Romney: “Do you think that the former president, Donald Trump, permanently damaged NATO?”

Romney’s answer is devastating: “I think what happened with NATO is they have said can we rely on the U.S.? And is this America First idea, which is the president saying to everybody, ‘hey, go off and do your own thing,’ that approach is one that frightens other members of NATO and they wonder are we committed to NATO and our mutual defense, or are we going to go off on our own? And so they wonder.”

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Tragic, but exactly the answer one would expect from responsible leaders who do understand the dangers posed by populism and autocracy. It is not just Donald Trump, it is the MAGA movement itself. (In this writer’s opinion).

Hunt then asked a necessary question, though in a naive way: “Are they going to get over that?”

Romney: “They wonder whether we’re going to return to the, if you will, policies we have had for the last 70 years or we’re going to take the turn that Donald Trump represented. If he were to come back as the U.S. president, I think it would represent a pretty dramatic departure for the world and they would rethink on whether they can count on the United States.”

Standing here today, there is no doubt they trust Joe Biden’s leadership. It is we, the American electorate, that the Western democracies (and far eastern democracies like Japan, South Korea, and Australia) do not trust. The MAGA movement

Hunt asked – somewhat redundantly – if this would be answered in 2024, Romney said:

“I think if President Trump were to return as president, the nations of the world would say they have to really rethink their own national security and the extent to which they want to be in line with us and be allied with someone else.

“You saw that happen during the time President Trump was there. I have had conversations with leaders of other nations now, members of NATO, and they raise this question: we’re happy to see you committed to our mutual defense, but we don’t know whether you’re just committed short-term or whether this is a long-term and permanent commitment. I think it’s long-term and permanent.”

 


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