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President Joe Biden has strongly criticized his potential 2024 election opponent, Donald Trump, for his remarks regarding NATO. Biden referred to Trump's statement that he would support Russia attacking any NATO member that did not meet its defense spending requirements as "dumb," "shameful," and "un-American." He emphasized the importance of passing a $95 billion foreign aid package for US allies, including $60 billion for Ukraine, as a response to Trump's comments. Biden stated that failing to pass this package would play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He condemned Trump's behavior, stating that no other president in history had shown such deference to a Russian dictator and assured that he would always stand up against such actions. Trump had criticized NATO members for not meeting their financial obligations and recounted a hypothetical conversation about whether the US would defend a delinquent member. Biden accused Trump of treating NATO as a protection racket. He reiterated that the US would defend every inch of NATO territory if Putin were to attack a member, citing the previous invocation of Article 5 after the 9/11 attacks. The president issued a challenge to House Republicans, asking them to choose between standing with Ukraine and Putin or with America and Trump. According to a report from the Financial Times, NATO will announce that 18 of its 31 members will meet the target of spending 2% of their GDP on defense. Only Poland currently spends a higher percentage of its GDP on defense compared to the US. Trump had criticized NATO members in the past for not meeting this target, raising the possibility of the US withdrawing from the alliance.