'He Has No Commitment To NATO': Biden Takes A Shot At Trump At Press Conference

5 months ago

At a press briefing on Thursday, President Biden spoke about working with NATO to counter Russia.

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Transcript

00:00the United States, Joe Biden.

00:02Distinguished guests,

00:03the President of the United States,

00:04Joe Biden.

00:10Thank you, please be seated.

00:13Well, good evening.

00:16We just concluded this year's

00:17NATO summit.

00:20The consensus among the members was it was a

00:23great success.

00:24It was especially momentous because it

00:26represented the 75th year of NATO's

00:28most important military defense alliance in the

00:29history of the world.

00:32We should never forget that NATO grew out of

00:34the wreckage of World War II.

00:36The most destructive war in history.

00:39The idea was to create an alliance of free and

00:42democratic nations

00:43that would commit themselves to a compact

00:44of collective defence.

00:46Standing together,

00:49they knew we would all be safer.

00:51Attack on the enemy,

00:52attack on the enemy.

00:55They knew we would all be safer.

00:57Attack on one would be treated as an attack on

00:59all.

01:00And it has worked.

01:03Because a would-be aggressor knows

01:05if they attack one of us,

01:07they will be attacked by all of us.

01:09Sending that message is the best way

01:11to deter aggression

01:13and prevent wars in the first place.

01:15For those who thought NATO's time had passed,

01:17they got a rude awakening

01:19when Putin invaded Ukraine.

01:21Some of the oldest

01:25and deepest fears in Europe

01:26roared back to life.

01:29Because once again,

01:31a murderous madman was on the march.

01:33At this time,

01:36no one cowered in appeasement.

01:39Especially in the United States.

01:42We collected intelligence that Russia was

01:43planning to invade Ukraine

01:44months before the invasion.

01:47I directed the intelligence community

01:49to be declassified

01:53so I could start building an international

01:55coalition to oppose the invasion.

01:57Then in February,

02:00I warned the world that the invasion was

02:02imminent.

02:05I rallied a coalition of 50 nations from Europe

02:07to Asia to help Ukraine defend itself.

02:10Many foreign policy experts thought

02:13as Putin amassed Russian forces

02:15just 100 miles north of Kiev,

02:18the capital of Ukraine,

02:21the capital of Ukraine.

02:24Putin thought it was the mother home of Russia.

02:26The capital would fall in less than a week.

02:29But the Ukrainian people

02:31backed by a coalition to help build

02:33stopped him.

02:36Today, Kiev still stands.

02:38And NATO stands stronger than it has ever been.

02:41During the week of this summit,

02:44several heads of state made it a point

02:47in their statements to thank the United States

02:49and to thank me personally

02:52for all that NATO has achieved.

02:54NATO is not only stronger,

02:55NATO is bigger

02:58because we led the charge to bring in Finland

03:01and Sweden and the alliance.

03:03And it makes a gigantic difference.

03:04Meanwhile,

03:07my predecessor has made it clear

03:10he has no commitment to NATO.

03:12He has made it clear

03:15that he would feel no obligation to honour

03:17the obligations of article 5.

03:20He has already told Putin,

03:22do whatever the hell you want.

03:25In fact, the day after Putin invaded Ukraine,

03:28here is what he said.

03:29It was genius.

03:30It was wonderful.

03:33Some of you forgot that, but that is exactly what he said.

03:36But I made it clear

03:39a strong NATO is essential to American security.

03:42And I believe the obligation of article 5

03:44is sacred.

03:47It is a duty that is assigned to all Americans.

03:49Article 5 is invoked only once

03:51in NATO's long history.

03:54And that was to defend America after 9-11.

03:56I made it clear

03:59that I will not bow down to Putin.

04:02I will not walk away from Ukraine.

04:03I will keep NATO strong.

04:06That is exactly what we did.

04:09And exactly what we will continue to do.

04:11Now, the future of American policy

04:14is up to the American people.

04:17It is more than the political question.

04:19It is more than that.

04:21It is a national security issue.

04:24Don't reduce this to the usual testament

04:26that people talk about.

04:29Issues of being a political campaign.

04:31It is far too important.

04:34It is about the world we live in

04:36for decades to come.

04:39Every American must ask herself or himself

04:41, is the world safer with NATO?

04:43Are you safer?

04:47I believe the American people know

04:49the answer to all of those questions is yes.

04:51And I believe

04:53the American people understand

04:55that America is stronger.

04:58Stronger because of our alliances.

05:01I believe the American consensus from Truman

05:03to Reagan to me

05:04still holds today.

05:07America cannot retreat from the world.

05:10We must lead the world.

05:13We are an indispensable nation

05:16and we will continue to lead the world.

'He Has No Commitment To NATO': Biden Takes A Shot At Trump At Press Conference

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