Trump casts doubt on his commitment to defend Nato allies under attack
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has raised questions about his commitment to automatically defend fellow Nato countries in the event they are attacked if he becomes US president.
In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Trump said the US should only come to the aid of allies if they have "fulfilled their obligations to us".
Mr Trump said “I would prefer to be able to continue” existing agreements, he said, but only if the United States is going to be "reasonably reimbursed for the tremendous cost of protecting these massive nations with tremendous wealth".
All 28 members of Nato have signed a treaty agreeing that they will come to the aid of any member that is attacked.
"This is an alliance, it's not a welfare state handout"
Former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, told ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore, he agreed with Mr Trump's stance to a degree.
When asked what America should do in the event Russia invaded one of the Baltic republics, Mr Gingrich said that he thought the United States should be involved.
But he added: "The Nato countries refuse to take seriously their own defence and they have got to take this seriously."
"This is an alliance, it's not a welfare state handout. The United States cannot be the primary provider of defence for all of Europe."
In response to Mr Trump's comments, the White House reiterated the United State's "steadfast commitment" to the Nato alliance.
Pointing to the fact that every US president post WW2 has honoured the commitment to the alliance, the White House added that there should be "no mistake or miscalculation made" about US commitment.
The British defence secretary Michael Fallon today said that Nato's mutual defence guarantee contains no "conditions or caveats" for members.
Meanwhile the foreign secretary Boris Johnson said that article 5, which pledges mutual defence, was "incredibly important".
He added the treaty had "guaranteed the peace in Europe for decades and will do, I think, for decades to come".