Nato chief praises US for China policy shift under Donald Trump amid ‘dangerous times’
- Security alliance since 2017 ‘has gone a long way in helping European allies fully appreciate the challenges posed’ by Beijing, says Jens Stoltenberg
- 2024 Republican front runner credited with inspiring Nato members to raise their defence contributions
“You shifted your policy on China in 2017 under President Trump, and since then, Nato has gone a long way in helping European allies fully appreciate the challenges posed by China and respond to it,” Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, in Washington.
Stoltenberg described “the China challenge” as a task the US could not do alone.
The remarks followed fresh criticism of the alliance by Trump, the front runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
“We are paying for Nato and we don’t get so much out it,” he said last week during a campaign event.
“And I hate to tell you this about Nato. If we ever needed their help – let’s say we were attacked – I don’t believe they’d be there.”
During his presidency, Trump repeatedly threatened to cut American funding for Nato and pull the US out of it.
‘Chaotic for the whole world’: fears over Trump’s Taiwan agenda if he wins again
Stoltenberg on Wednesday asserted things had changed at Nato and that in these “dangerous times, we must stand strong”.
All Nato members were now contributing at a higher level than before, Stoltenberg said, with the additional amount totalling US$450 billion more for the alliance.
Earlier on Wednesday, the secretary general told CNN he was confident that if Trump were re-elected to the White House the US would remain a “staunch ally” of Nato.
