Musk Calls on US to Quit NATO, Stop Paying for Defense of Europe

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Bloomberg

March 9, 2025 at 5:06 AM EDT


Billionaire Elon Musk threw his weight behind a US exit from NATO, saying on his social media platform that it “doesn’t make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe.”

The senior adviser to US President Donald Trump was responding to a post on X early Sunday that asserted the US should “Exit NATO *now*!” “We really should,” the Tesla Inc. co-founder and chief executive officer said.

On March 3, Musk wrote on X he agreed with a suggestion by a conservative commentator that the US should leave both NATO and the United Nations.

Musk’s comments comes at a time when the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which will mark its 76th anniversary in April, hangs in the balance.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-09/musk-calls-on-us-to-quit-nato-stop-paying-for-defense-of-europe

---

No paywall (gift)

As a note (from the article link - and it was at the VERY BOTTOM) -

Under a 2023 law, a president can’t unilaterally withdraw from the alliance without a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate or an act of Congress.

This was the bill that was inserted in the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) back in late 2023 -

S.J.Res.37 - A joint resolution requiring the advice and consent of the Senate or an Act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty and authorizing related litigation, and for other purposes.

Here is the NDAA (for FY24) -

H.R.2670 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

In part, what was inserted in the above -

SEC. 1250A. LIMITATION ON WITHDRAWAL FROM
THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
ORGANIZATION.

(a) Opposition of Congress to Suspension, Termination, Denunciation,
or Withdrawal From North Atlantic Treaty.--The President shall not
suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the
North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds
of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.
(b) Limitation on the Use of Funds.--No funds authorized or
appropriated by any Act may be used to support, directly or indirectly,
any decision on the part of any United States Government official to
suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the
North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington,

(snip)

[Lovie777]

1. shithole musk republicans - insanity on steroids..................

[AmericaUnderSiege]

2. I call on you to stop calling on a country you betrayed for anything.

Get out of our business.

[MayReasonRule]

3. Seize The Day...

[Irish_Dem]

4. Does Putin phone in his orders to Musk, or use email?

[DENVERPOPS]

21. During his first term

Trump had some kind of secretive, back channel means............now they just dial each other on a encrypted line, night or day, and text each other.....(that's why Trump is up at all hours of the night, he is not allowed to interfere with Putin sleeping).......

[Irish_Dem]

34. Yes the secret server in the Trump towers.

Yes they probably now text or talk out in the open, no one cares.

Oh good point, Moscow is 7 hours ahead of DC time.

Let me ask you this DP. Do you think Putin is still alive?

[DENVERPOPS]

38. I would think so

Trump and the RepubliCONs are not near as smart as the Russian Mastermind who is directing all of this from afar......

I would have to think that if something had gotten past Putin's food taster, the next in charge would have definitely changed course.

[Irish_Dem]

39. Interesting. Can you humor me asking some questions DP?

Let me give you the context of my thought process and questions:

We know that Putin has been in bad health, we saw some of the videos
a couple years ago where he could hardly sit up without holding on to the table.
With rumors of serious illness swirling around.

Putin has not been seen recently, and it is a fact he uses body doubles.
And his appearances have diminished over the past couple of years.

We also know he has royally pissed off his own oligarchs, Putin has crashed
the Russian economy. And destroyed the Russian military. And pissed off
Europe. China is not too happy with him either. So the man has a lot of enemies.

So we have to at least consider his physical and mental health.

In the event of his death, who would take over?
The oligarchs? Military? Someone else waiting in the wings?

I am sure the US military and CIA have gamed out this question.

Interesting your idea he must be alive, because he is the most evil madman
mastermind on the planet, and his fingerprints are all over Musk and Trump's
dastardly deeds. I think you are right, it does load on Putin still being alive?

[DENVERPOPS]

40. Hey ID

All good questions and thinking.............

It seems we are all in a loop of thinking: It seems that the more we know, ......the less we know.....

Years ago, I said to my son that we probably don't know a thousandth of what is going on........He turned to me and said:
AND, we probably don't WANT to know!!!!!!!!!!! LOL pretty perceptive for a teenager......

Russia is probably in the same situation we are......Like Trump, if something happens with Putin there are probably a whole chain of similar assholes who will step forward........The bad guys are winning, I'm thinking.......

Be Well and take Care ID.....

[Irish_Dem]

41. Yes the more we learn, the more we learn how little we know.

Your son is right. There is a lot we don't want to know.

Your summary statement about the Putin situation is the same as mine.

There are people in the wings in the US and in Moscow.
Who all have the same mindset.

Yes we are in the iconic human condition, the fight between good and evil.

Yes sometimes evil wins.

[DENVERPOPS]

42. I often think

when I see this increase in global warming and natural disasters, if mother nature isn't trying to tell us something.......
She is finally getting really pissed off at how we humans are treating HER planet. Maybe she is getting ready to exterminate human life from the planet......wait until it goes back to normal, and then start with some new life form. Heaven knows she wouldn't do humans again......LOL

[Irish_Dem]

43. The age of Earth is 4.5 billion years.

I think humans have probably repeated this cycle a number of time before.

The Darwinian goal of survival loads on aggressive behavior and resource hoarding.

Follow that thread out to its logical conclusion and here we are.

Rinse, repeat.

Yes Mother Nature is probably glad to see humans blow themselves up every million years or so.

[andym]

5. MUSK is trying to find ways to save the huge sums of money he promised but can't deliver

if the US withdraws from NATO, then presumably Musk could insist on huge defense cuts. Same reason he talked about SS as a ponzi scheme-- he hoped to cut it.

[mike_c]

12. I'm of two minds about that

On the one hand, NATO was necessary during the latter half of the twentieth century, and the US was the only member capable of insuring Europe's security during the post-WW2 recovery. Today's European Union is more stable and has arguably recovered from the world wars. American hegemony in NATO keeps American garrisons throughout Europe, justifying a significantly larger military than we would need were those bases closed. And I generally applaud policies that reduce the influence of the military-industrial complex. Our biggest US export is violence and oppression-- I cannot support that. Reducing the Pentagon's budget is essential. Frankly, I'd like to see it cut by 75% or more. The military is the private international security force for our wealthy parasite class. Imagine the good we could do in the world with the money we spend killing people today.

[Justice matters.]

29. NATO was put in place at the end of WWII to "secure" Americans.

To make sure peace would remain across the Atlantic (then called the "West" up to the Berlin wall).

Its most important purpose was to make sure no other tyrant would rise up in any of the European countries that signed up in the Alliance and then threaten the national security of the United States of America.

So primarily, it was put in place to secure Americans first and foremost.

That plan worked fine for 80 years. Article 5 was invoked only once by the "w" misadministration...

[Xolodno]

44. When the Cold War ended, Europe should have taken more of the drivers seat role.

I'm looking at Ukraine and seeing numerous different systems, weapons, etc. hampering them, as they have to learn something new all the time. People forget, as much as we learn about Russia's capability, they are also learning about our own. To be frank, I don't think our weapons are up to snuff either. Like the "Guns of August", could be over estimating our capabilities and under estimating thiers.

On top of that, we were warned by Eisenhower of the MIC. We stayed in "military mode" after WW2 and to justify spending that money, you need a conflict. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of consumer goods developed at home, even if we did offshore the manufacturing, engineers, finance, etc. would still remain here. How many great Zenith or RCA TV's have you seen as of late?

However, keeping a military plane, tank, etc. being built in one Congress person's district gets them re-elected, even if the Pentagon says they don't want it. It's why I do think at times we need term limits for Congress. It would get rid of dinosaurs like Mitch out faster and put them in a position to zig instead of zag.

[zorbasd]

30. The Defense Industry, who employs massive

numbers of American Engineers, Scientists, and Technicians will be economically devastated.

[twodogsbarking]

6. He should look into how much money is spent for one employee to play golf.

[DENVERPOPS]

22. Honestly, and factually

estimated at a cost of TEN MILLION per trip on AFONE......

[twodogsbarking]

23. He should try the public course.Cheaper

[DENVERPOPS]

24. But,

just look at all the expenses and profits he personally would miss out on, that are spent at his resorts by the Feds on every single trip!


Besides, he couldn't control the cameras at the Public Courses, and wouldn't be able to cheat on every hole like he does now....and it would be all over youtube every single day......

[twodogsbarking]

7. Not to drag up old subjects but to put it into perspective.Link to Forbes. mea culpa

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2021/08/16/the-war-in-afghanistan-cost-america-300-million-per-day-for-20-years-with-big-bills-yet-to-come/

[neverforget]

8. Musk is making powerful enemies....

Just saying...

[mike_c]

9. in fairness, Europe today is very different...

...from Europe in the immediate aftermath of WW2 and beginning of the cold war. Still doesn't seem necessary to kick the apple cart now, of course.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. "in fairness, Europe today is very different..."

Except that the EU came into existence as the USSR was breaking up. Now Putin wants to reconstitute a "capitalist-embracing" version of the USSR run by him and his oligarchs.

[mike_c]

13. yes, but remember that in the first half of the 20th century...

...the European powers and wannabes were still imperial colonialists. Most still had their monarchies, with rigid class, racial, and colonial oppression. The two world wars left those institutions in shambles, far more so than the break up of the Soviet Union fifty years later. Their economies were shattered, tens of millions killed, more millions homeless and displaced. Twenty years of grinding poverty, hunger, and migration. Empires fell into history.

Today's Europe is in much better condition and has spent seventy-five years putting the destruction of the world wars behind it. The EU is just the icing on the cake, IMO. Even without the Union they would be much more capable of providing their collective security themselves. We can have a defensive alliance with the EU without garrisoning western Europe, just like most other countries do.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. "Most still had their monarchies, with rigid class, racial, and colonial oppression."

They STILL have that today. You have 12 that still have some form of monarchy and a bunch still have colonies (e.g., in the Caribbean). The anti-immigrant sentiment has not really gone away and has come roaring back now...

The formation of the EU with a "common currency" (for the most part although some don't use the Euro), and the free transit between member countries, has been helpful. But the old ethnic tensions remain and are simmering under the surface.

But what has also happened is that they formed tight alliances with what became Russia and notably ceded their energy needs to them. That caught them flat-footed and unable to quickly disentangle themselves when Russia invaded Ukraine.

That is partly why that war has gone on so long. The EU was loathe to instantly bite the hand that was feeding them LNG.

So after 30 years, they are going to have to rejigger themselves because they now have a threat on their borders that at one time had been a semi-ally during WWII. They do have 2 members who recently joined NATO, but that has added to the tensions regarding Russia.

[cstanleytech]

10. The US tried the same thing President Musk is advocating and it was a complete and utter shitshow of a distater.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

14. Fuck Elon

I have a better idea. Stop the US from paying you another fucking dime! Go some pace and die. And do it soon. And take that dumb Orange Traitor Tot with you!

[Turbineguy]

15. Republicans must be pleased.

They found a president worse than trump.

[58Sunliner]

16. Putin's puppet says what?

[Beartracks]

19. You can practically see Putin's lips moving.

[Beartracks]

18. Why don't these supposed "business men" understand investing?

Investing in the security of one's neighbors increases one's own security.

Even if all you understand are dollars, a safer, steadier, more peaceful world is good for business. Just like having a healthy, well-educated, economically stable and vibrant middle class -- something else that's worth investing in, but that Republicans are mystifyingly opposed to.

=================

[Renew Deal]

20. Leaving the UN would be damaging to New York's economy and culture

[RussBLib]

25. Musk is really asking for it

...and people are starting to "give it to him." He better keep up the kevlar and his human shield, but that might not be enough. He is really fucking up big-time.

https://russblib.blogspot.com/?m=1

[DENVERPOPS]

26. Now we have

TWO Russian agents paving the way for Putin............Along with a whole bunch of Trump's questionable appointees helping out....

[Pachamama]

27. Can a member of NATO be asked to leave?

[C_U_L8R]

28. And he will take none of the responsibility.

These asshats need to be held accountable for all the damage they're doing. Now.

[BidenRocks]

31. Musk is safe inside his bulletproof

Swasti-truck. Right douchebag?

[Dem4life1970]

32. Appeasement, weakness, capitulation...

That is what Musk and Orange Julius Caesar are offering. Neville Chamberlainism of the 21st century. No one should listen to or follow either one of these spineless, weak individuals who are afraid of Putin. We need real men not these two weak, Beta males....

[ReRe]

33. Fuck Elon Musk

and the orange felon who he rode in on!

[Kid Berwyn]

35. Thanks, Putin.

Traitor Trump and Traitor Musk have that in common.

[johnnyfins]

36. Remember what happened to the last

President who went up against the American MIC?

Oh yeah...how is that new JFK investigation coming Luna? Have you interviewed anyone from the Warren Commission yet? Those people are prolly hard to find these days...

[travelingthrulife]

37. I want to pay to defend Europe. I do not want to give one dime to any of Musk's play projects.