Former President Donald Trump told top European officials while he was still US president that Washington would never help Europe if it was attacked, according to a senior European Union official.
According to Archyde.com, Thierry Breton, a French commissioner responsible for the European Union’s (EU) internal market, said Trump made these remarks to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. 2020.
On Tuesday (9), Breton told what he remembered from a discussion panel meeting in Brussels and his comments generated harsh criticism of Trump on Wednesday (10).
“You need to understand that if Europe is under attack, we will never help and support you,” Breton said, quoting Trump, during the Davos meeting.
“By the way, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [OTAN] is dead and we will leave, we will abandon NATO”, Trump also said, according to Breton.
The commissioner also recalled that the then president charged a US$400 billion Defense “debt” to Germany, which raised questions about whether von der Leyen’s recollection of Trump’s comments matched Breton’s.
Trump is the favorite to be the Republican Party’s candidate in the 2024 presidential elections, with opinion polls predicting a close race against Biden in the November vote.
According to the investigation, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign spoke about the issue and stated that “the idea that he would abandon our allies if he didn’t get what he wanted highlights what we already know to be true about Donald Trump: the The only person he cares about is himself.”