During a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump said he did not want to financially support NATO nations, even if they were attacked by Russia, “they said ‘if we don’t pay are you still going to protect us,’ I said absolutely not,” Trump said.

As in the past, Trump mischaracterizes the issue—there is no debt to NATO—and is likely referring to some NATO members not meeting their pledge to spend 2% of their GDP on defense spending, an ongoing internal dispute among NATO nations.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates described Trump’s comments as “appalling and unhinged” and said encouraging invasions of U.S. allies “endangers American national security, global stability and our economy at home.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters Trump’s comments put American and European soldiers at “increased risk,” and said “any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security.”

European Council President Charles Michel said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Trump’s were “reckless” and only serve Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests.

Thierry Breton, European Union internal market commissioner said during an LCI television interview Europe would be able to handle Trump as president again but added “we cannot flip a coin about our security every four years depending on this or that election, namely the U.S. presidential election.”