President Donald Trumpβs recent reversal on his prior criticisms of NATO was not a reversal, Vice President Mike Pence argued on Sunday, falsely claiming that Trump successfully forced the alliance to change.
βHe didnβt change on NATO,β Pence said on NBCβs βMeet the Press.β βNATO changed.β
During his campaign, Trump called the alliance βobsolete,β but as president, he changed his tune. Yet Pence insisted it was Trump who convinced NATO to shift its priorities.
βI mean on the international scene, hereβs a president whoβs said that NATO had to change, that our NATO allies had to begin to step up to begin to share the burden of the cost of our common defense. And they are,β Pence said. βTheyβre also changing the mission of NATO to focus more on terrorism.β
Penceβs claim resembled a similar suggestion by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who attributed Trumpβs reversal to the world shifting toward Trumpβs position, rather than the other way around.
βIf you look at whatβs happened, itβs those entities or individuals in some cases β or issues β evolving toward the presidentβs position,β Spicer said earlier this month. βNATO is moving toward what he has been calling for.β
When host Chuck Todd mentioned to Pence that NATO and its priorities have been evolving for years, under multiple U.S. presidents, not simply as a result of Trump, Pence blamed βthe gale-force wind of the establishment here in Washington, D.C.β and the media for not focusing on βthe presidentβs relentless effort to keep his promises to the American people.β