Does Congress believe that Donald Trump is going to be re-elected in 2024? Yes or no, the fact that a clause in the NDAA prevents a president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO is suspicious. The excuse for the latest act of Congress that’s described below is the rhetoric of Trump. Remember that Trump is not the president, and the Democrats are trying to derail his re-election.
So what’s the problem? There is no problem. I believe that NATO or the EU have influenced the insertion of the wording of the clause in question. Think about it. Ask yourself: Who has the most to gain from it?
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) led the charge in getting Congress to approve legislation that would forbid any president from leaving NATO without the Senate’s consent or a congressional act. The measure was a part of the yearly National Defense Authorization Act, which President Biden is likely to sign after it passed the House on Thursday.
The clause highlights Congress’s dedication to the NATO alliance, which was the focus of former President Trump’s animosity throughout his administration. Under Biden, the alliance has regained momentum, particularly in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“NATO has held strong in response to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine and rising challenges around the world,” Kaine said in a statement. He added that the legislation “reaffirms U.S. support for this crucial alliance that is foundational for our national security. It also sends a strong message to authoritarians around the world that the free world remains united.”
Rubio said the measure served as a critical tool for congressional oversight.
“We must ensure we are protecting our national interests and the security of our democratic allies,” he said in a statement.
Throughout his presidency, Biden has made significant investments in the NATO alliance, sending additional troops and military hardware to Europe as a show of force against Putin’s conflict and supervising the alliance’s expansion to include Finland and ongoing efforts to secure Sweden’s full accession.
However, Trump’s detractors claim that the former president’s statements undermine the alliance’s cohesion and unity of purpose and voiced worries that Trump would renounce the United States’ commitment to the alliance’s mutual defense pact or depart the country entirely.
