Donald Trump ‘said US will never help Europe if under military attack’ | US News

Former President Donald Trump allegedly vowed that the US would not aid the European Union if it were to come under a military attack.

Trump issued the warning in a private conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one of the most senior politicians in Europe claimed.

‘You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,’ Trump told von der Leyen at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton.

Trump at the time also said, ‘By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO’, and ‘By the way, you owe me $400billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense’, per Breton.

Breton as well as the EU’s then-trade chief, Phil Hogan, attended the meeting. Breton opened up about the exchange at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Politico reported.

While president, Trump was hostile toward NATO. He criticized member countries that failed to meet the alliance’s commitment to invest at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense, to ensure their military readiness.

In late October, Rolling Stone reported that Trump privately discussed cutting ties with NATO unless the alliance meets his demands.

Breton on Tuesday proposed setting up a €100billion EU defense fund to boost arms production. He advocated for bolstering the alliance’s self-defense abilities as the Russian-Ukraine war continues.

‘That was a big wake-up call and he may come back,’ Breton said of Trump.

‘So now more than ever, we know that we are on our own, of course. We are a member of NATO, almost all of us, of course we have allies, but we have no other options but to increase drastically this pillar in order to be ready (for) whatever happens.’

Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination. The Republican Party is holding the first contest of the election cycle, the Iowa Caucus, on January 15.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Metro.co.uk on Breton’s remarks.

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