Elon Musk has called on the United States to leave NATOand the United Nations as tensions soar after the furious clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office.
A US exit from NATO would mark the first time a member has left the defence alliance since its inception in 1949.
The head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said “I agree”, in response to a message from hard-right political commentator David J. Freeman, known on X Gunther Eagleman.
Mr Freeman’s message on X read: “It’s time to leave NATO and the UN.” He was sharing another post from US Senator Mike Lee which also called on the US to leave NATO.
Under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, an attack on one member is an attack on all. If the US were to leave NATO, it would mean that if Russia or any other actor was to launch an assualt on another NATO member, Washington would no obligation to step in.
However, with the UK, France, Germany and others still members of the alliance, under the terms of the treaty, they would be compelled to respond to any such act of aggression.
Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Norway all have borders with Russia, and if the US left the alliance, there would likely be grave concerns that the Kremlin would seek to incur NATO’s borders, especially in the Baltic states.
Donald Trump has long-warned NATO members need to signifcantly ramp up their defence spending.
In response to the perceived threat from Russia, Poland leads NATO’s defence spending in GDP terms. In 2025, the the eastern European state is projected to spend 4.7% of its GDP on defence.
Estonia, meanwhile, spends well over 3% on defence in terms of GDP – more than the US.
Lativa, too, spends over 3% and Lithuania spends just under 3%. The NATO defence spending target is 2% of GDP.
