


Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a bill Wednesday seeking to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, even as the Trump administration strengthens ties with the transatlantic military alliance.
As a two-day NATO summit attended by President Donald Trump wrapped up on Wednesday, Lee unveiled legislation that would remove the U.S. from the alliance and bar federal funding from ”directly or indirectly” contributing to NATO-related budget requests.
Recommended Stories
- Trump says US will meet with Iran next week, but doesn't care about nuclear deal
- Iran's parliament passes bill to stop cooperating with IAEA
- Foe to friend? Trump critic Jeb Bush praises president for handling of Iran
“America’s withdrawal from NATO is long overdue,” Lee said in a statement announcing the Not A Trusted Organization Act. “NATO has run its course – the threats that existed at its inception are no longer relevant 76 years later. If they were, Europe would be paying their fair share instead of making American taxpayers pick up the check for decades. My legislation will put America first by withdrawing us from the raw deal NATO has become.”
NATO is viewed as the U.S.’s most important strategic military alliance, comprising allies such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Although he has at times downplayed NATO’s significance and urged members to bump up their military spending and rely less on U.S. funding to line their foreign defense budgets, Trump hailed the alliance this week, saying he was with partners “all the way.”
The president’s friendly stance came after allies pledged at the summit, held at The Hague in the Netherlands, to comply with his demands to increase their defense spending from NATO’s minimum 2% target of GDP to 5% over the next decade.
Trump welcomed the announcement as “a monumental win” for the U.S., which has historically carried the brunt of NATO defense spending. And NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the alliance that “dear Donald” made the change possible.
“Your leadership on this has already produced $1 trillion in extra spending from European allies since 2016 and the decision today will produce trillions more for our common defense to make us stronger and fairer by equalizing spending between America and America’s allies,” the NATO chief said.
Like Trump, Lee has often complained NATO allies have failed to pay their fair share of defense spending, introducing a pair of resolutions this week attempting to remedy concerns.
One resolution would require the Pentagon to submit an annual report on the defense spending of all 59 U.S. allies and detail the military activities of each ally that could require support from the U.S. military.
Another resolution seeks to require NATO allies to regularly report how much of their gross domestic product they are contributing toward military spending.

TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP CAUSED NATO ALLIES TO INCREASE DEFENSE SPENDING BY A TRILLION DOLLARS
“Our NATO allies expect the U.S. to be the sugar daddy and the world’s policeman while they sit back and let us do the heavy lifting,” Lee said. “It’s time for them to pull their own weight. Congress must stop giving blank checks to our allies and start demanding accountability.”
Most NATO allies have reached the 2% target of how much of their GDP goes toward military spending. However, five countries other than the U.S. spend more than 2.5% of their GDP on defense, according to an analysis by Politico.