Trump's message to NATO allies spark global response
Trump's message to NATO allies spark global response
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reactions are pouring in from around the world to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump saying the U.S. may revisit NATO's longstanding policy of defending its allies against possible Russian aggression if he becomes president.
Trump told The New York Times he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against any incursion by Russia based on whether those countries "have fulfilled their obligations to us."
The response from many leaders in the U.S. and abroad, as well as from citizens in Baltic countries:
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin
"Trump on NATO: deeply dangerous will dismay our closest Allies but great cheer in Kremlin: I can hear Vladimir Putin chortling from here." —
Tweet by James Stavridis, retired four-star Navy admiral who served as the 16th supreme allied commander of NATO
The cornerstone of that alliance is the pledge that all of the allies have made to mutual self-defense. ...
Republicans, Democrats and Independents who help build NATO into the most successful military alliance in history would all come to the same conclusion: