"We’re not playing cutsie with this," Spicer said when asked if Trump’s failure to verbalize a commitment to Article V in his speech meant anything. "He’s fully committed."
Spicer said that Trump’s presence at a ceremony commemorating the invocation of Article V after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks upon the United States was indication enough that he and the United States are committed to NATO’s mutual defense obligations.
"If you are standing at a ceremony talking about the invocation of Article 5 after 9/11 and talking about that, that is a pretty clear indication of the support that exists for it," Spicer said. "I am somehat perplexed when you’re at a ceremony that is centered around Article 5 people [that] could expect to hear certain words."
Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty provides for mutual defense among NATO members under the operating principle that an attack on one nation is an attack on all. The only time Article V has ever been invoked was after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, under which NATO has maintained a military presence in Afghanistan for the past 16 years.
