The New York Times reports:
There are few things that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia desires more than the weakening of NATO, the military alliance among the United States, Europe and Canada that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, President Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the United States.
Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018, Mr. Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared Mr. Trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set.
Trump has reportedly considered NATO “obsolete” since the campaign, and to end it would be consistent with his larger overall domestic and foreign policy agendas of dismantling American interests for the benefit of either business interests, or Russia https://t.co/x3y6cFjXT7
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) January 15, 2019
“Now, the president’s repeatedly stated desire to withdraw from NATO is raising new worries among national security officials amid growing concern about Mr. Trump’s efforts to keep his meetings with Mr. Putin secret from even his own aides…” https://t.co/TEul0mBBRo
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 15, 2019
If true: Trump should immediately and publicly state his apparent wish to withdraw from NATO so he can be promptly impeached, convicted, and removed from office.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) January 15, 2019