Former NATO commander on Trump giving up alliance role: 'Nothing could make the Kremlin happier’

Former NATO Supreme Allied Cmdr. Wesley Clark weighed in on a report that President Trump’s administration is considering drastically changing its military combatant command structure, arguing the potential decision would hinder the military cooperation between the U.S. and Europe and satisfy the Kremlin. 

“It's the critical linkage between the United States, our nuclear forces, U.S. forces and Europe. And so get rid of that position. You decouple the United States from NATO. You take away intelligence, you take away the ability to work with U.S., channels and NATO channels simultaneously,” Clark said during his Friday night appearance on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” 

“Nothing would make the Kremlin happier, and the Americans get and you don't save anything, because as NATO commander, my expenses were definitely my salary,” Clark said on Friday. “Most of my expenses were paid by Belgium and by NATO common funds. So there's no big savings in this. It's just a gift to Mr. Putin.” 

The Pentagon is considering a plan that would result in the U.S. giving up its position as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR), NBC News reported Tuesday, citing two defense officials familiar with the planning. 

Republican defense hawks in Congress expressed concern about the reported plan. 

“U.S. combatant commands are the tip of the American warfighting spear. Therefore, we are very concerned about reports that claim [the Defense Department] is considering unilateral changes on major strategic issues, including significant reductions to U.S. forces stationed abroad, absent coordination with the White House and Congress,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said in a joint statement on Wednesday. 

A day later, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) argued if the administration acted on the proposal, it would drastically weaken the NATO military alliance, a position the U.S. has held for nearly 75 years. 

“Weakening American leadership won’t strengthen NATO or U.S. interests. If we’re serious about encouraging more capable European allies, retreating from our position as the leader of the trans-Atlantic alliance would be an odd way to show it,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday. 

Trump has previously criticized Europe’s top military players for not spending enough money on defense and not putting an appropriate amount into NATO, a pact set up in 1949. The president floated the U.S. withdrawing from the alliance during his first term in office.  

That vision has some support in the GOP-controlled Senate, including from Trump-ally Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) who earlier this year said NATO is a “great deal for Europe” but a “raw deal for America.”