Obama Huddles with NATO Leader as Trump Derides Alliance
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - US President Barack Obama sought to highlight the United States' commitment to the 28-nation NATO alliance Monday, even as the leading Republican in the race to replace him has deemed the coalition "obsolete."
Obama met in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for more than an hour to discuss progress in the battle against Daesh (ISIL) and the response to last month's terror attack in Brussels, where NATO is headquartered.
While he didn't respond to questions shouted by the press about Donald Trump's derision of NATO, Obama did describe the alliance as intrinsic to American defense, CNN reported.
"NATO continues to be the lynchpin, the cornerstone, of our collective defense and US security policy," Obama said.
"It is because of the strength of NATO and the transatlantic partnership -- this transatlantic alliance -- that I'm confident that despite these choppy waters we will continue to be able to underscore and underwrite the peace and security and prosperity that has been the hallmark of the transatlantic relationship for so many decades."
After the meeting, Obama said the leaders discussed ways to prevent Daesh from obtaining a foothold in Libya by supporting a stabilizing government there.
Obama has pressed European nations -- including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom -- to ramp up their military and financial support for the NATO alliance, which has long relied on significant contributions from the United States to maintain its mission of protecting member states from outside aggression.
The US has also increased troop rotations through Eastern Europe as a display of support for NATO members in the region.
But to GOP front-runner Trump, European NATO countries are falling far short, and he has taken to disparaging the organization on the campaign trail.
In Wisconsin this weekend, Trump argued that many of NATO's member states weren't paying their "fair share" for the protections that NATO affords.
"That means we are protecting them and they are getting all sorts of military protection and other things, and they're ripping off the United States, and they're ripping you off," Trump said at a rally in Racine. "I don't want to do that. Either they pay up, including the past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO."
That sentiment drew criticism from Trump's GOP rivals, who argued for a more muscular alliance to fend off threats both from Daesh and Russia.