Trump doubles down on war with NATO — and thinks Ukraine is already a member

Republicans and Democrats came together over the weekend to attack former President Donald Trump for his comments that he'd encourage a war with a NATO ally. The United States is in NATO, the group that links together Europe and the United States in the event of a war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long attacked NATO and sought to undermine it. Trump appears to believe that every country must pay an equal share, but that isn't the way that it works. Funds given to NATO from nations are calculated using a cost-share formula that Trump doesn't appear to fully comprehend. The money isn't sent as a check directly to NATO as he believes.

"No, I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay," Trump said he told one unnamed leader asking if he'd fight against NATO.

After the criticism, Trump took to his personal social media site to claim that people on the left and the "RINOs," which are Republicans in Name Only, supported his attacks on NATO.

He conflated his cash shakedown with the promise to support a Russian war against Europe.

"When I told the 20 Countries that weren’t paying their fair share that they had to PAY UP, and said without doing that you will not have U.S. Military Protection, the money came rolling in," Trump posted, throwing in all-capital letters randomly. "After so many years of the United States picking up the tab, it was a beautiful sight to see. But now, without me there to say YOU MUST PAY, they are at it again."

Trump then appeared to think that Ukraine is part of NATO, which it is not yet.

"We are into helping Ukraine for more than 100 Billion Dollars more than NATO. We have nobody that they respect, and they insist on paying far less than we do. Wrong, NATO HAS TO EQUALIZE, AND NOW. THEY WILL DO THAT IF PROPERLY ASKED. IF NOT, AMERICA FIRST! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN"

While NATO has come out against the Russian invasion, Ukraine isn't a member yet.

"NATO Allies agreed at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, noting that its next step would be to submit an application to the Membership Action Plan (MAP), a NATO programme covering political, economic, defence, resource, security and legal reforms of aspirant countries," the NATO website explains. "At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies reaffirmed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO when Allies agree and when conditions are met. They removed the requirement for Ukraine to pursue a MAP, which will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process."

In response to Trump's comments at the rally, former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) told "Meet the Press" it "is why I've been saying for a long time that he's unfit to be president of the United States."

The White House called them "appalling and unhinged."