H.R. McMaster: Omission of Article 5 commitment from Trump speech a 'manufactured controversy' by Melissa Quinn on Jun 29, 2017, 2:31 PM Advertisement
 National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Wednesday criticism of President Trump's failure to affirm the United States' commitment to NATO's Article 5 in a speech last month was a "manufactured controversy." "The president is absolutely committed to our treaty," McMaster said Wednesday at the Center for a New American Security's annual conference. "We are signatories of the treaty, and he said we will never abandon those who stand with us, and he was very clear in saying everything but that explicit phrase that everyone was looking for, for some really odd reason." "There's never been any doubt in the president's mind, anyone's mind, our allies' minds, about the commitment to Article 5," McMaster said. During a visit to NATO's new headquarters in Brussels in May, Trump left out a commitment to Article 5, which states that NATO allies will come to the aid of another under attack. The omission sparked concern among NATO members, but after the speech, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump's speech was a "clear indication of the support that exists for it." 
"The president knows more than anybody, more than anybody that an alliance in which each of the members shares responsibility, shares burden, is an alliance that is almost like a true or false choice, ‘a' or ‘b' choice," McMaster said. "Is it stronger or weaker than an alliance in which the members don't share the responsibility and burden? Of course the alliance is getting stronger because of President Trump's call on each of our allies to share responsibility." During his visit to Brussels, Trump also criticized NATO allies in attendance for not paying their "fair share," a reference to the 2 percent of gross domestic product that members are required to spend on their own defense. McMaster said Trump was delivering a bit of "tough love" to allies, but Michele Flournoy, co-founder of the Center for a New American Security, pressed McMaster on whether Trump's message to allies was too tough. "They are not feeling very loved at the moment," said Flournoy, who was in line to become Hillary Clinton's defense secretary. "They're feeling the tough part, but not the love part." The national security adviser disagreed, and said he doesn't feel "any degree of anxiety among our allies." SEE ALSO: Russia and the UK are in a war of words over their aircraft carriers
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