Waltz Backs Trump on NATO Criticism

Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (R) has endorsed President Donald Trump’s (R) criticism of NATO. Rep. Waltz invoked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ own criticism of NATO back in 2011, urging NATO to share the growing security burden.

Writing for the Washington Examiner, Rep. Waltz penned an op-ed titled “Trump is Right About NATO Burden-sharing.” Like President Trump, Rep. Waltz has gone on the offensive when it comes to NATO, questioning why the majority of NATO members have not met their defense spending commitments. In citing President Trump’s call for NATO members to meet their commitment of 2 percent GDP, Rep. Waltz also shared that calls have been previously made from the other side of the aisle.

In 2011, Secretary of Defense Gates,then-Secretary of Defense under President Barack Obama (D), gave a speech in Brussels, arguing that the United States’ military alliance with Europe was facing a “dim, if not dismal” future, citing the U.S.’s disproportionate funding of NATO operations. Moreover, he expressed that the NATO allies are “willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets.”

Rep. Waltz goes on to explain that, in 2017, when President Trump visited Brussels and called for NATO members to “contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations,” President Trump was chided for his remarks.

“Though there has been much groveling from previous administrations from burden sharing, Donald Trump was simply louder and successful at finally getting our allies to pay up,” Rep. Waltz affirmed, adding that “unlike his predecessors, Trump had a unique capability to deter our enemies and influence our friends – that is why, for example Iran’s oil exports dropped so precipitously under his sanctions, despite the opposition of every other major world power.”

President Trump is currently leading both Ambassador Nikki Haley (R) and President Joe Biden (D) in national polls. Rep. Waltz has endorsed him for president.