Tech baron Elon Musk backed requires the US to withdraw from NATO and the United Nations after months of badmouthing the 2 worldwide organizations.
“I agree,” Musk, 53, wrote on X in reply late Saturday to MAGA influencer Gunther Eagleman’s suggestion that “It’s time to leave NATO and the UN.”
Musk didn’t elaborate on the specifics of why he needs the US to drag out of NATO and the UN, however the suggestion got here after a number of social media customers pointed to Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) name to drag out of each.
Final month, Lee, 53, who has drawn frequent reposts and interactions from Musk on X, launched laws alongside different lawmakers to drag out of the UN and decried it as “a platform for tyrants and a venue to attack America and her allies.”
On Saturday, Lee publicly prompt that the US pull out of NATO, pointing to Norwegian gas provider Haltbakk Bunkers’ announcement that it could cease serving to the US Navy refuel in protest of President Trump’s confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
“Europe doesn’t love us,” Lee chided on X Saturday. “Let’s leave NATO.”
Norway, a NATO ally, publicly introduced that it could proceed to assist refuel US army ships regardless of Haltbakk Bunkers’ announcement and name for a boycott of serving to out US army ships.
The US helped type NATO within the aftermath of World Conflict II as a bulwark towards the Soviet Union, and the highly effective army alliance — the core of which is that an assault on one member constitutes an assault on all members — now has 32 members.
The UN was additionally shaped after WWII as a successor to the League of Nations to advertise dialogue between nations.
Trump, 78, and different conservative figures have publicly groused that NATO allies don’t pull sufficient of their very own weight and that parts of the UN have been overly harsh to the US.
Musk is understood to have Trump’s ear, serving as a “special employee” on the White Home and casual boss of the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), regardless of the administration arguing in court docket paperwork that he’s not formally in cost and even an worker of the cost-cutting entity.
Whereas Musk didn’t delve into his rationale on Saturday, prior to now, Musk has argued that the US makes up a disproportionate quantity of NATO’s energy and has questioned why NATO continued to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Musk has additionally beforehand asserted that the US spends an excessive amount of cash on the UN. Final fiscal yr, Congress accredited $1.54 billion for the UN’s core finances. The US additionally funds different UN entities.
Trump has publicly demanded NATO allies spend vastly extra on protection and accused European nations of profiting from America’s army umbrella.
Final month, he additionally reduce off funding for the United Nations Reduction and Works Company for Palestine Refugees and pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council.
