Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday signalled support for the United States to withdraw from NATO and the United Nations. His response came in agreement with a post on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.
“I agree,” he wrote in reaction to a statement by a right-wing political commentator arguing that the U.S. should pull out of both international organisations.
His stance aligns with efforts by Republican lawmakers who recently introduced a bill pushing for the U.S. exit from the U.N., claiming the institution no longer serves the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine.
The U.S. was among a small group of nations including Russia, Belarus, Israel, and Hungary that rejected a U.N. resolution in late February condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
NATO and the U.N. were created in the aftermath of the Second World War, spearheaded by the U.S. and its allies, with the goal of fostering global stability, diplomacy, and conflict prevention.
Musk, who holds no elected office, currently oversees the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, a body that has slashed federal expenditures, including critical international aid programmes.
President Donald Trump has long criticised NATO partners for what he sees as insufficient financial contributions and has pushed for a mandatory defence spending target of 5% of GDP for all member states.
Ukraine considers NATO membership essential for national security against Russian threats, but Trump stated in February that Kyiv “can forget” about joining, suggesting its membership aspirations played a role in igniting the war, an argument frequently promoted by Russian state media.
