MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Top military leaders on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s assertion that everyone will soon agree that NATO is “very obsolete,” and instead praised the successes of the security group.
“NATO has played an instrumental role in Afghanistan and helping the Afghan government and the Afghan security forces to restore decency and some stability to that country. We are working with NATO now on strengthening the deterrence of Russia,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa.
“There is a lot that NATO has done and is doing,” he continued.
Trump on Sunday reiterated past comments saying that NATO is obsolete and that soon, everyone will agree with him just as they do on past statements about immigration or trade.
“When I talked about the problems that we have with trade. Now they’re all saying Trump is right. The same thing with NATO,” Trump said this weekend. “When I did that, two days I took abuse from the media falsely. Now, people are saying — many, many people are saying, you know, Trump is right. He’s absolutely right about NATO.”
But Carter touted NATO’s many accomplishments from successfully waging the Cold War to working to fix the Syrian refugee crisis plaguing Europe.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said it’s hard to imagine a world without NATO because of the difference it has made in international security. “I think that question probably is a question that would’ve been asked 15 years ago, but it’s hard to think about asking it today,” he said. “The fundamental question is, is collective security still required for NATO? The answer is yes.”
