President Donald Trump suggests NATO Article 5 for southern border

US president Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States should have considered testing NATO by forcing member states to respond to America’s southern border crisis.

Trump speculated in a post on Truth Social that the United States could have invoked Article 5 — the alliance’s collective defense clause, which considers an attack on one member to be an attack on all — and thus put NATO “to the test.”

“Maybe we should have put NATO to the test: We invoked Article 5, forcing NATO to come here and protect our southern border from further invasions of illegal immigrants, thus freeing up large numbers of Border Patrol agents for other missions,” he wrote.

The president’s comments came after he recently questioned NATO’s commitment to helping the United States

Denmark strengthens its defenses in Greenland after Trump succeeded in controlling the territory

“We will always be there for NATO, even if they are not there for us,” the president wrote on social media earlier this month.

After meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Trump announced that he had a “framework for a future agreement on Greenland.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social that if the deal is completed, it “would be a great deal for the United States of America, and all NATO countries.”

Davos braces for Trump amid tensions over NATO, Greenland and global defense

President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States should have tested NATO commitment by triggering Article 5 in response to the southern border crisis. (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP)

Following the meeting, Trump said he would cancel a plan to impose tariffs on a group of NATO members who have sent troops to Greenland amid the president’s efforts to seize the island. Trump had confirmed that these countries would be subject to 10% customs duties on all goods as of February 1.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News this week, Rutte said Trump was “absolutely right” about the need to beef up security in the Arctic region, noting that the chance of Russia or China becoming a threat in that region is growing.

Rutte praised Trump’s leadership in convincing NATO countries to pay more for the alliance’s defenses.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised President Trump’s leadership on defense spending. (Denis Balibous/Reuters)

“I would like to argue with you tonight about this programme, because it is the one that brought the whole of Europe and Canada to this famous 5%, which is crucial for us to break even in our spending, but also to protect ourselves. And this is the framework that you see in his post and that we will work on,” Rutte said.

NATO member states previously spent 2% of GDP on defence, but have now agreed to spend 5% of GDP on defense and national security infrastructure.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Shimel contributed to this report.