Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is pushing for the U.S. to exit NATO. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Lee isn’t the only lawmaker expressing such sentiments. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Sunday in a post on X that "NATO is a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian."
The lawmakers' comments also come after Musk, who is heading up the Trump administration’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also shared support for withdrawing from NATO Saturday. Musk said "I agree" in a post on X, in response to another post claiming it’s time for the U.S. to detach itself from NATO and the United Nations.
The push to pull out of NATO coincides with stalled negotiations to end the war in Ukraine as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought for Ukraine to become a NATO member after Russia invaded his country in 2022. But Trump kicked Zelenskyy out of the White House on Friday after meeting to secure a deal, saying Zelenskyy was welcome back when he was ready for peace.
Pulling the U.S. from NATO would require Congressional approval. A bipartisan provision included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Bill requires that the executive branch would need support from 60 senators, or passage of legislation in Congress, to pull out of the alliance. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is now Trump's Secretary of State, spearheaded the provision.
WORLD LEADERS BACK ZELENSKYY FOLLOWING TRUMP, VANCE OVAL OFFICE SPAT
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called on NATO allies to bolster defense spending. (Getty Images)
As of 2023, the U.S. spent 3.3% of its GDP on defense spending, amounting to $880 billion, according to the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. More than 50% of NATO funding comes from the U.S., while other allies, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have contributed between 4% and 8% to NATO funding in recent years.
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Hegseth urged European allies to bolster defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, as Trump has long advocated.
NATO comprises more than 30 countries and was originally formed in 1949 to halt the spread of the Soviet Union.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/amerexit-republicans-push-us-leave-nato-amid-stalled-ukraine-peace-negotiations