US lawmaker pushes for withdrawal from NATO
The bloc is “a Cold War relic” and a burden for taxpayers, Thomas Massie has said
US Republican congressman, Thomas Massie. © Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
A Republican congressman has introduced a bill to pull the US out of NATO, arguing the bloc is a “Cold War relic” that drains “trillions” of dollars from American taxpayers.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced the legislation on Tuesday, stating that the military bloc was created to counter the long-gone Soviet Union and that taxpayers’ money would be better spent elsewhere.
“We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries… US participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk US involvement in foreign wars… America should not be the world’s security blanket – especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense,” Massie said.
If passed, the bill would order the US government to formally notify NATO that it intends to end its membership and halt the use of American funds for the bloc’s shared budgets.
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The move echoes a similar push this year from Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who introduced legislation arguing that US NATO membership no longer reflects America’s strategic needs. His measure, however, stalled in committee, and Massie’s effort is likely to face the same steep odds in a Congress that has repeatedly signaled bipartisan support for staying in the bloc.
US President Donald Trump and several of his Republican allies have long argued that Washington pays far more than its fair share and have criticized EU governments for falling short on defense spending. Trump at one point warned that the US could opt not to defend “delinquent” members of the bloc in case of a potential attack.
As Trump’s pressure on the bloc intensified, NATO members agreed this year to gradually raise their defense spending to 5% of GDP, far above the old 2% guideline. The push comes as European NATO members in particular have sought to portray Russia as a “threat,” with Western media and officials claiming that Moscow could launch a full-blown attack on the bloc within several years.
Russia has dismissed the allegations as “nonsense,” suggesting that the bloc is demonizing Moscow and pursuing a path of “rampant militarization.”