For much of the 20th century, America’s support for the NATO alliance was a bipartisan priority. Whether there was a Democrat or a Republican in the Oval Office, the world could feel confident that the White House’s commitment to NATO would not wane.
That changed dramatically under Donald Trump, who told his team — “several” times — that he was prepared to withdraw from the alliance. By all accounts, it was a plan he intended to follow through on in a second term.
With this in mind, The New York Times reported last week that with Trump well positioned in the 2024 race, there’s “enormous uncertainty and anxiety among European allies and American supporters of the country’s traditional foreign-policy role.”
It’s probably safe to say that anxiety is weaker now than it was a week ago. The Hill reported:
Congress has approved legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress. The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which passed out of the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Biden.
An Associated Press report added that the provision in the NDAA now requires sitting American presidents to “get the advice and consent of the Senate or an act of Congress before withdrawing U.S. membership from NATO.”
In other words, even if Trump were inclined to abandon the alliance and do Russia a favor of epic proportions, he would have to get Congress’ approval — and that would be a tall order, even if there were a GOP majority. Officials have taken a variety of steps this year to “Trump-proof” the government in the event that the former president returns to power, mostly through regulatory actions. It’s encouraging to see Congress take related steps. To be sure, the bipartisan measure in the NDAA only addresses part of the larger problem. Trump has also said, for example, that he was prepared to ignore the treaty’s Article 5 commitment and fail to defend NATO allies from Russian attacks. What’s more, since leaving office, he has continued to criticize the alliance and its members. That said, the action by Congress is an encouraging step that will help many international observers breathe a little easier.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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