European leaders are feeling uneasy as Elon Musk recently expressed his backing for the United States to withdraw from both the UN and NATO.

The tech billionaire made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, yesterday evening. 

A notable political commentator named Gunther Eagleman, who boasts a following of 1.3 million and identifies as a ‘Proud America First MAGA Patriot’, made a statement on March 1 advocating for the U.S. to exit both NATO and the UN.

That message was reposted by Musk, the leader of Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who simply added ‘I agree’. 

In addition to this, Musk shared a tweet from Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has represented Kentucky’s forth congressional district since 2012. In the tweet, Massie referred to NATO as ‘a Cold War relic’ that should be consigned to a display at the Smithsonian.

Musk’s approving post comes in the wake of calls by other Republican lawmakers to reconsider the country’s NATO membership.   

Utah senator Mike Lee, a longstanding NATO critic, has called the organisation a ‘cold war relic’ and argued that it offers a ‘great deal for Europe’ but a ‘raw deal for America’.  

Musk’s role as a key player in the new administration means that his endorsement of the anti-NATO position could spell trouble for the North Atlantic alliance.

Billionaire Elon Musk reposted a message calling for the US to leave NATO and the UN, adding ‘I agree’

Having set about slashing US government agency spending, the SpaceX CEO – a key player in the Trump administration – could now use his influence to help dismantle the US’s alliances with their European partners. Pictured: Musk (left) wielding the chainsaw gifted to him by Argentina President Javier Milei (right) 

President Trump has so far avoided actively calling for the US to exit from NATO, but has repeatedly berated his fellow European allies to increase their defence spending

Donald Trump has so far avoided actively calling for the US to exit from NATO, but in the aftermath of his second election victory he has consistently painted it as a one-sided relationship.

He told reporters that he doubted the value of spending money on NATO – since the US was protecting NATO members but they were ‘not protecting us’. 

Indeed, there is clear momentum within the White House towards an isolationist, ‘America First’ position and the president has repeatedly berated his fellow NATO allies for not increasing their defence spending quickly enough. 

The US president’s team told European officials in December that the bloc would have to more than double its spending target of two per cent – a target which over a quarter of its members were on course to fail to meet.

Trump called for European nations to up their military budgets to 5 per cent of GDP – far higher than the US’s own defence spending.

The 45th and 47th US president also said in February 2024 that he would encourage Russia to do ‘whatever the hell they want’ with any of the 32 NATO member states who failed to meet such ambitious defence spending targets.   

However, even back in Mr Trump’s first term there were multiple signs that the real estate mogul was ready to resort to more drastic measures. 

Senior officials in the initial Trump administration said that their boss spoke numerous times in private over the course of 2018 about his desire to withdraw from NATO, The New York Times reported.  

Musk’s post comes in the wake of calls by other Republican lawmakers to reconsider the country’s NATO membership, including Utah senator Mike Lee, a longstanding critic who has called it a ‘great deal for Europe’ but a ‘raw deal for America’

 In a recent post on X, Utah senator Mike Lee said ‘It’s time to exit NATO’ in response to another post about NATO members ‘not paying your fair share’

Musk also reposted a tweet by Republican congressman Thomas Massie, the representative for Kentucky’s forth congressional district since 2012, which called NATO ‘a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian’ 

Meanwhile in the period around a NATO summit meeting the same summer he reportedly told his top ranking national security officials that ‘he did not see the point’ of the North Atlantic alliance – which he portrayed as a ‘drain’ on the US. 

In public Mr Trump’s team, including then defence secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton, sought to play down the president’s negative feelings about NATO, fearing that talk of a withdrawal could see Washington’s influence in Europe dwindle while emboldening Vladimir Putin. 

NATO, the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere, was founded with three key goals in mind.

The first was to stop the spread of Communism, the second to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent, and thirdly to encourage European political integration. 

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4 1949 and included the famous Article 5 which promises a commitment to mutual defence: ‘an armed attack against one or more of them… shall be considered an attack against them all’. 

After his recent meeting with the US President, British PM Sir Keir Starmer confided in aides that Mr Trump had apparently confirmed he was still committed to Article 5. 

However it is not only NATO that is in Musk’s crosshairs – as his X post makes clear, he also supports the US leaving the United Nations, an institution he has had several high profile personal run-ins with. 

Back in October 2021 Musk said he was willing to sell $6 billion of Tesla stock if the United Nations official who said that just 2 per cent of the entrepreneur’s income could help solve world hunger could back up the claim.

The SpaceX boss also wants the US to leave the UN – an institution he has had several person run-ins with

In 2021, United Nations World Food Programme head David Beasley claimed that the UN could save 42 million people from starvation with $6billion – approximately 2 per cent of Musk’s wealth at the time

Musk agreed to fund the $6billion as long as the UN could explain exactly how they would spend the money. They did – but the billionaire never paid 

Musk agreed to fund the $6billion as long as the UN could explain exactly how they would spend the money. 

They World Food Programme took Musk at his word and issued a report three days later itemising how the cash would be spent – but the funds never materialised. 

In his dislike of the UN Musk is again aligned with the inner sanctum of Trump’s team, many of who have spoken out against the international body. 

Utah senator Mike Lee decried it as ‘a platform for tyrants and a venue to attack America and her allies.’

Last month Donald Trump described the UN as ‘not being well run’ and called for a review of UNESCO, the UN cultural agency. 

Mr Trump told reporters: ‘It [the UN] has got great potential and based on the potential we’ll continue to go along with it, but they’ve got to get their act together. 

‘It’s not being well run, to be honest and they’re not doing the job. 

‘A lot of these conflicts that we’re working on should be settled, or at least we should have some help in settling them. We never seem to get help. That should be the primary purpose of the United Nations.’