BY Austė Sargytė, LRT.lt.
After years of attacking NATO’s effectiveness, assailing its members for failing to spend enough on their own defence, and, most recently, raging at their refusal to back Washington in its war with Iran, Donald Trump now appears to be on the verge of doing what once seemed unthinkable: withdrawing the United States from NATO.
A law passed by Congress in 2023, and spearheaded in part by Marco Rubio, now the Secretary of State, bars the president from doing so without congressional approval. But that might not stop Trump from trying to pull the U.S. out of the 77-year-old alliance.
What is NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a defensive alliance designed to keep the U.S., Canada and Europe safe in the wake of World War II. Formed in 1949, the alliance initially included 12 countries, but has swelled to 32 members. The latest countries to join NATO include Finland in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.
NATO’s aim is to “guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.” At its core is Article 5, which states that an attack on one NATO ally will be considered an attack on all. Lithuania joined NATO on March 29, 2004.
Why is Trump considering withdrawal from NATO?
Trump’s animosity towards NATO goes as far back as 2017, when he dismissed the body as “obsolete” and accused its members, especially European countries, of “ripping off” the US by failing to spend adequately on their defence budgets.
Read more: LRT.LT
