Trump says NATO should be 'tested' over US southern border immigration

On his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump posed a hypothetical scenario for the military alliance. "Maybe we should have put NATO to the test: Invoked Article 5, and forced NATO to come here and protect our Southern Border from further Invasions of Illegal Immigrants," he wrote. Article 5 of the NATO treaty stipulates that an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all, obligating collective action. Trump's framing of unauthorized immigration as a potential trigger for this clause represents a significant reinterpretation of the alliance's foundational purpose, traditionally reserved for military aggression.

Context of doubts over alliance solidarity

The president's comments follow his expression of doubt about NATO's reliability. "The problem with NATO is we’d be there for them 100 percent but I’m not sure they’d be there for us," Trump remarked on Wednesday. This sentiment was voiced after European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos criticized his administration's aggressive push to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a move that has strained U.S.-European relations. The linkage of border security to NATO's core mission reflects a broader, persistent theme in Trump's foreign policy, which questions the value and fairness of traditional multilateral security commitments.

A shift in tone on the return from Davos

Despite the sharp rhetoric on NATO, Trump concluded his trip to Switzerland with a notably more positive assessment of other diplomatic endeavors. "Heading back to D.C. It was an incredible time in Davos. The Greenland structure is being worked on, and will be amazing for the U.S.A., and the Board of Peace is something that the World has never seen before — Very special," he posted. This suggests a compartmentalization of issues, where frustration over alliance politics coexists with optimism on specific projects like the Arctic framework and the Gaza "Board of Peace." For Türkiye, a critical NATO ally that has also dealt with complex migration challenges, the debate highlights evolving and sometimes divergent interpretations of alliance roles in contemporary security threats.