Ret. Lt. Col. Ralph Peters blasted Donald Trump on Thursday for making "the most destructive and idiotic statement on foreign policy" he has ever heard from a presidential candidate for casting doubt on whether he would fulfill America’s military obligations to NATO allies, leading to a heated discussion with Fox Business host Trish Regan.
Peters said he had a "very low opinion of Hillary Clinton," but he did not think she would ever say "anything that stupid."
Trump set off another firestorm on Wednesday when he told the New York Times there would be a condition for supporting the Baltic states that recently entered NATO and other member states if they came under attack from Russia.
"Have they fulfilled their obligations to us? If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes," Trump said.
It is a bedrock principle of NATO that an attack on one of the member states is treated as an attack on all, which is enshrined in Article Five of the treaty. Trump even caught his running mate off-guard with his statement, as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told Fox News he had "every confidence" that a Trump administration would live up to its treaty obligations.
Regan defended Trump while talking with Peters, remarking that NATO members are required to pay two percent of their GDP and claiming the U.S. was the only one doing that.
Five NATO members, including the United States, currently meet their defense spending requirements.
"So, does Donald Trump have a point here? They’ve got to step up," Regan said.
Peters flatly said no, and also ripped Trump for his praise of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent crackdown after an attempted military coup.
"No, he has no point," Peters said. "His statement, as well as his statement to the New York Times about Turkey, was the most destructive and idiotic statement on foreign policy by a presidential candidate in my lifetime."
Peters rattled off a list of Erdogan’s mass arrests and reported suppression of free speech, expressing derision that Trump could admire a person like that.
"Back to the Baltics. Estonia, this tiny little country, Estonia is paying over two percent of its GDP for defense," Peters said. "Latvia and Lithuania, not wealthy countries, are doing their best. They were there for us in Iraq, in Afghanistan."
Regan countered that Germany and France are not contributing what the U.S. is to the alliance, wondering if the U.S. needed to play "hardball" with them.
"They’ve been in the fight," Peters said. "They have been in the fight. Now, if they’re not spending as much as we like, Europe has some financial problems."
"We’ve got financial problems, too!" Regan said.
"Yeah, and we’re not spending what we should," Peters shot back. "Trish, there’s no excuse for what Trump said, and what he did was invite Vladimir Putin to invade the Baltics."
Peters said the small Baltic states were some of the country’s best allies and Trump was throwing them to the wolves.
"Look, I have a very low opinion of Hillary Clinton," he said. "She never would have said anything that stupid!"
Regan had to check her earpiece, appearing surprised Peters would make that remark. Peters explained that NATO, as a mutual defense alliance, was instrumental in winning the Cold War and securing such a long period of European peace.
"Donald Trump knows nothing about it!" Peters said.
"Wouldn’t you like to see NATO do more?" Regan asked.
"Of course I’d like to see NATO do more," Peters said. "That’s not what Trump said. Trump is inviting Putin to more provocations."
Putin and Trump have expressed admiration for one another in the past.