Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) warned on Thursday that the Trump administration would significantly weaken NATO if the United States were to give up military leadership of the alliance for the first time in its 75-year history.
“Weakening American leadership won’t strengthen NATO or U.S. interests. If we’re serious about encouraging more capable European allies, retreating from our position as the leader of the trans-Atlantic alliance would be an odd way to show it,” McConnell said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
He issued the remarks after NBC News reported that the Pentagon is looking at restructuring the nation’s combatant commands and is studying a proposal for the United States to give up its long-held role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
McConnell warned at a press conference in Kentucky earlier this week that Russia and its allies, including China, continue to pose a serious risk to U.S. interests.
“What we want to avoid here is a headline that says ‘Russia Wins and America Loses,’” McConnell told local reporters on the same day President Trump had a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He called on Congress to increase defense spending and for the United States to increase its commitment to NATO.
“A way of looking at this worldwide competition at this particular juncture in our history: It’s the authoritarians versus the democrats,” he said. “Obviously, the Democrats need to be more aggressive. That includes increasing NATO spending more.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) also pushed back on the possibility that the United States might give up military command of NATO.
“We are very concerned about reports that claim [the Defense Department] is considering unilateral changes on major strategic issues, including significant reductions to U.S. forces stationed abroad, absent coordination with the White House and Congress,” they said in a joint statement.
While the GOP chairs said they support Trump’s efforts to prod European allies to increase their defense spending, they warned that Congress must be a part of any major changes to combatant commands.
“We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress,” they warned.
