House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he and his colleagues were planning to reassure North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies of the U.S.’ commitment to the alliance during an overseas trip, in light of media reports that Trump has told aides he wants to withdraw from the military alliance.
But Trump canceled the trip Thursday, citing the partial government shutdown.
“We had anticipated an important defense and intelligence briefings in Afghanistan,” Schiff said. “We were looking forward to the opportunity to reassure NATO allies undoubtedly shaken by reports that the president has questioned his staff or opined about leaving NATO. We’re determined to make sure that our NATO our allies understand that on a very bipartisan basis our commitment to NATO is strong.”
The New York Times reported on Monday that Trump has privately discussed his desire to withdraw the U.S. from NATO on multiple occasions, including around the time of the NATO summit last July, when he was questioning the usefulness of the alliance. At the time, Trump cited that European allies needed to step up their defense spending.
Despite the congressional delegation’s plans to meet with NATO allies, Trump announced that he was canceling Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Brussels and Afghanistan in light of the partial government shutdown. Although Trump said Pelosi was welcome to travel on a commercial flight, he said “it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown.”
Schiff said he would not comment on Pelosi’s travel plans but said he thought “the president’s decision to disclose a trip that a Speaker is making to a war zone was completely and utterly irresponsible in every way.”
“We think this is a completely inappropriate action,” Schiff said. “And the president’s concern about a [congressional delegation] going to a war zone, apparently doesn’t apply to a delegation from the administration going to Davos the following week because we’ve got confirmation that is still planned.”
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that although the military is fully funded at the moment, Trump may cancel military flights accordingly. The official said all congressional delegations are canceled while the shutdown continues.
Even so, the White House official said a presidential delegation will still attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan. 22 to 25. However, Trump decided not to attend due to the partial government shutdown.
