Elon Musk has called for the United States to pull out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), claiming that it is not fair for America to pay the cost of defending Europe.
The billionaire business magnate, who co-chairs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made the comment in response to a post on X that called for the US to "Exit NATO now!"
"We really should," Musk said.
Previously, on March 2, Musk had responded to yet another X post that read, "It's time to leave NATO and the UN."
"Agreed," replied the Tesla CEO.
The comments by Musk come at an important juncture for the 32-nation alliance that will celebrate its 76th anniversary in April. There are questions regarding NATO's future these days that have gained strength over the last several months.
NBC says on March 6, ex-US President Donald Trump spoke to his advisors about varying America's presence in NATO based on favoring the aid that goes to nations that spend a certain percentage of their GDP on defense. Trump threatened NATO allies that he won't defend them if they fail to live up to their paychecks.
“It’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them,” Bloomberg quoted Trump as saying from the Oval Office.
Within NATO, European nations—many of which significantly reduced military spending after the Cold War—depend heavily on the US for intelligence, communications, logistics, and strategic military capabilities.
To address increasing alarm, European Union leaders met in Brussels last week for an emergency summit aimed at increasing defense spending.
Officials considered a European Commission proposal that would provide up to €150 billion ($162.5 billion) in loans to member states to support defense efforts. In addition, talks considered a plan that would enable countries to spend as much as €650 billion on defense over four years without being subject to budget-related penalties.
"During the past weeks, we've witnessed what I would describe as quite a dramatic development. It's still not perhaps very obvious what ultimately will be the American strategy," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Nonetheless, under legislation approved in 2023, an American president can't unilaterally pull out of NATO without getting a two-thirds majority Senate vote or consent from Congress.
