Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested leaving NATO: Report

President Trump floated the idea of withdrawing the U.S. from NATO among his officials several times last year, The New York Times reported late Monday night.

Unnamed officials, both current and former, told The Times that Mr. Trump said he didn’t see the point of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and viewed it as a drain on U.S. resources. The complaint came around the time of the last NATO summit in July 2018.

The president was very vocal in the days leading up to — and during — the summit about his criticism on NATO burden sharing. He repeatedly called for NATO allies to contribute more funds and accused them of taking advantage of the U.S.

The officials said at first they weren’t sure if Mr. Trump was serious about leaving the longstanding military alliance, but he has returned to the notion multiple times, which is raising their concern.

A White House official responded to The Times by pointing to the president’s past comments from July 2018 when he said the U.S. commitment to NATO was “very strong” and the alliance was “very important.”

NATO was created in 1949 during the Cold War as a military alliance against Communism stemming from the Soviet Union. The alliance outlasted its rival Warsaw Pact, which dissolved in 1991, and has remained an issue for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This article comes as several other reports have surfaced since late Friday highlighting the FBI’s concern that Mr. Trump could be working for the benefit of Russia.

The Times first reported that the FBI opened an investigation into the president after he fired former FBI Director James B. Comey because the bureau was concerned that his actions were to support Russia.

Mr. Trump denied having any kind of working relationship with the Kremlin on Monday and said: “I never worked for Russia.”

“I think it’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax,” he told reporters. “It’s just a hoax.”