Trump allies advance legislation to end US participation in NATO

Republican lawmakers have put forward a proposal in both chambers of the US Congress calling for the withdrawal of the United States from NATO. The bill’s author, Representative Thomas Massie, argues that the alliance is a “Cold War relic” and contends that remaining in it no longer aligns with America’s national security interests.

Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, formally submitted legislation, according to a statement released by his office.

The bill, designated HR 6508, would be known as the “Not A Trusted Organisation Act” (NATO Act) or simply the “NATO Act.”

“NATO is a Cold War relic. We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries,” said Rep. Thomas Massie. “NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over thirty years ago. Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement in foreign wars. Our Constitution did not authorise permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against. America should not be the world’s security blanket—especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defence.”

He further stressed that the US Constitution does not authorise ongoing interference in other nations’ affairs, adding that the United States should not be responsible for “the security of the entire world, especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defence.”

The bill states that US participation in NATO no longer serves national security interests. It requires that, in accordance with Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the US president must formally notify NATO of Washington’s withdrawal no later than 30 days after the act enters into force.

A companion measure, S.2174, was introduced in the Senate by Massie’s fellow Republican, Senator Mike Lee of Utah.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull the United States out of NATO, sharply criticising allied governments for inadequate defence spending. This summer, NATO members committed to raising their defence budgets to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035.

During the administration of Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, Congress enacted legislation preventing any sitting US president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO. The initiative was co-authored by Marco Rubio, who now serves as Secretary of State. However, experts told POLITICO that Trump could potentially bypass this restriction by invoking his foreign policy powers as president.

The latest US National Security Strategy emphasises the need to prevent NATO from being viewed as a “permanently expanding alliance.” Although Washington continues to regard its partnership with Europe as essential, the United States will no longer “carry the entire global order on its shoulders like Atlas,” the document states.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the United States has instructed European countries to assume a substantially larger share of NATO’s defence obligations by 2027, including responsibilities related to missile production and intelligence collection. Washington has warned that it will scale back US participation in several NATO defence mechanisms if Europe fails to meet these requirements by the designated deadline.

By Tamilla Hasanova