Martha MacCallum Accuses Jessica Tarlov of ‘False’ Claim Trump Wanted to Disband NATO: ‘He Wanted to Strengthen NATO!’

Upon returning from maternity leave on Monday, Jessica Tarlov didn’t waste time mixing it up with her cohosts on The Five.

During a discussion about Russia’s war on Ukraine, Tarlov commented on the strength of the NATO alliance in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is not a member.

She remarked that President Joe Biden’s approach to the conflict has conveyed several key points: “We want to avoid World War III. We stand with Ukraine. This is a democratic country. This is an ally. This is an ally, by the way, who had their Javelin [anti-tank missiles] held up by the former president over getting some extra dirt, by the way.”

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump made the distribution of military aid to Ukraine contingent on the country opening an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings there.

The Government Accountability Office found that Trump had broken the law by proposing the quid pro quo. The House of Representatives impeached Trump over the affair, while the Senate did not convict.

Eventually, the Trump administration distributed the aid.

“Did the Javelins get there?” Watters protested, noting the weapons arrived.

“The fact of the matter is, the Javelins were released,” Martha McCallum noted. “In fact, some of the weaponry systems were cut back under the Biden administration before they were then released. And when President Obama was asked by Ukraine to please send real weapons, they got [Meals Ready to Eat].”

She stated the Democrats’ record on Ukraine is “very weak” and that “President Trump sent them much more than anyone else had, and that’s the bottom line.”

Tarlov responded by saying, “He also wanted to disband NATO.”

“No he didn’t,” replied MacCallum. “That’s not true! That’s false.”

After some crosstalk, MacCallum stated, “He wanted to strengthen NATO. He said, ‘I want all of you to pay what you have to pay,’ which by the way, Germany is now finally doing. He strengthened NATO actually.”

On multiple occasions, Trump urged NATO members to spend higher percentages of their respective national gross domestic products of defense. According to one 2019 report, Trump was considering withdrawing the U.S. from NATO. However, a U.S. president would not be able to “disband” NATO unilaterally, even if he wanted to.

Watch above via Fox News.

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