United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley on Sunday said the United States supports the mutual-aid clause of the North Atlantic Treaty, though President Donald Trump declined to explicitly endorse the article while speaking at NATO headquarters in May.
“Of course we believe in Article 5,” Haley told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty holds that members of the alliance must come to the aid of another NATO ally under attack if it is invoked. In his remarks at NATO’s headquarters in Belgium, Trump declined to pledge support for the clause.
Haley said she met on Saturday with NATO ambassadors.
“We said ‘a threat on one of us is a threat on all of us,'” she said. “NATO is going to continue to be strong. It’s going to continue to be united. Russia’s going to try and divide it, but the truth is we’ve never swayed from Article 5.”
Haley said Trump’s intent during his remarks “was to make sure that the burden sharing was happening,” and that he would reaffirm the mutual-aid clause if pressed.
“I mean, I think if you asked him if he was in favor of Article 5, he would say that yes, he is,” she said.
Haley also said Trump would reaffirm the article if given an opportunity.
“He could if you asked him,” she said.
“I’d love to ask President Trump,” Tapper replied, “but he won’t give me an interview.”
