Using foreign soldiers on the southern border would show whether the bloc is useful, the president has said

US President Donald Trump has suggested that NATO members could prove the bloc's value by sending troops to guard America's southern border.

Trump, who has often criticized NATO for giving other members unfair security benefits at America's expense, floated the idea on Truth Social on Friday.

"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, thus freeing up large numbers of Border Patrol Agents for other tasks," he wrote.

Article 5 is the core mutual defense clause of the North Atlantic Treaty. The US invoked it after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, leading to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 with NATO playing a supporting role, and indirectly, Iraq in 2003. The Iraq operation strained relations among allies, with France notably refusing to support it.

During Trump's second term, NATO members assisted the US in defending Israel from Iranian retaliation after attacking the country's nuclear facilities. The brief conflict last June culminated in direct US strikes on fortified sites in Iran, which Trump counts among his major achievements.

More recently, Trump ordered a military operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro - a move that NATO allies refrained from condemning despite acknowledging its illegality under international law.

Tensions between the US and European NATO members escalated this month after Trump renewed his push to acquire Greenland from Denmark. He did not rule out using force initially, and senior adviser Stephen Miller mused that "nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is attempting to mediate a compromise that's acceptable to both Trump and Denmark.

(RT.com)