?%20By%20JAMES%20P.%20RUBIN%20Mag%20Shinkle%20James%20Comey%20Senate%20Hearing%20Will%20Comey%E2%80%99s%20Testimony%20Matter?%20By%20POLITICO%20MAGAZINE%20lede_james_comey_10_gty_1160.jpg%20The%20Scandal%20Hiding%20In%20Plain%20Sight%20By%20MICHAEL%20GRUNWALD%20%20%20Play%20Video%20Trump%20publicly%20commits%20to%20NATO%20mutual-defense%20provision%20Share%20Trump%20publicly%20commits%20to%20NATO%20mutual-defense%20provision%20By%20LOUIS%20NELSON%2006/09/2017%2003:32%20PM%20EDT%20Updated%2006/09/2017%2003:53%20PM%20EDT%20Share%20on%20Facebook%20Share%20on%20Twitter%20Weeks%20after%20omitting%20any%20mention%20of%20NATO%E2%80%99s%20collective%20defense%20provisions%20during%20a%20speech%20at%20the%20treaty%20organization%E2%80%99s%20headquarters,%20President%20Donald%20Trump%20on%20Friday%20explicitly%20recommitted%20the%20U.S.%20to%20its%20Article%205%20obligations.%20%20%E2%80%9CWell,%20I'm%20committing%20the%20United%20States,%20and%20have%20committed,%20but%20I'm%20committing%20the%20United%20States%20to%20Article%205,%E2%80%9D%20the%20president%20said%20in%20response%20to%20a%20question%20from%20a%20Romanian%20reporter.%20%E2%80%9CYes,%20absolutely%20I'd%20be%20committed%20to%20Article%205.%E2%80%9D%20%20%20Trump%20disappointed%20and%20surprised%20even%20some%20members%20of%20his%20own%20national%20security%20team%20with%20his%20remarks%20last%20month%20at%20NATO's%20Brussels%20offices,%20where%20a%20segment%20of%20his%20speech%20specifically%20reaffirming%20the%20U.S.%20government's%20support%20for%20the%20treaty's%20all-for-one,%20one-for-all%20defense%20provision,%20also%20known%20as%20Article%205,%20was%20removed%20at%20the%20last%20minute.%20The%20language%20was%20supported%20by%20national%20security%20adviser%20H.R.%20McMaster,%20Defense%20Secretary%20James%20Mattis%20and%20Secretary%20of%20State%20Rex%20Tillerson,%20according%20to%20reporting%20by%20POLITICO%20Magazine,%20and%20it%20remained%20in%20the%20president's%20remarks%20as%20late%20as%20the%20morning%20of%20the%20speech.%20%20In%20the%20wake%20of%20the%20president's%20remarks,%20White%20House%20officials%20argued%20that%20the%20president's%20sheer%20presence%20at%20the%20NATO%20event%20should%20have%20been%20enough%20to%20show%20his%20commitment%20to%20Article%205%20and%20disputed%20the%20notion%20that%20U.S.%20dedication%20to%20it%20was%20anything%20but%20absolute.%20%20Trump%20had%20been%20critical%20of%20NATO%20since%20his%20presidential%20campaign,%20when%20he%20labeled%20the%20treaty%20%E2%80%9Cobsolete%E2%80%9D%20and%20openly%20questioned%20whether%20the%20U.S.%20would%20make%20good%20on%20the%20treaty%E2%80%99s%20communal%20defense%20obligations%20for%20nations%20who%20have%20not%20spent%20enough%20on%20their%20own%20militaries.%20As%20president,%20he%20has%20railed%20against%20NATO%20members%20who%20do%20not%20spend%20the%20agreed-upon%202%20percent%20of%20their%20gross%20domestic%20product%20on%20defense%20and%20has%20claimed%20credit%20for%20increasing%20military%20spending%20among%20member%20states.%20%20%E2%80%9CCertainly%20we%20are%20there%20to%20protect%20and%20that's%20one%20of%20the%20reasons%20that%20I%20want%20people%20to%20make%20sure%20we%20have%20a%20very,%20very%20strong%20force,%20by%20paying%20the%20kind%20of%20money%20necessary%20to%20have%20that%20force,%E2%80%9D%20Trump%20said.
