Murad Sezer/Reuters
Vice President Joe Biden told North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies in Latvia on Tuesday that they shouldn’t worry about Donald Trump’s threats because the candidate “doesn’t even understand what Article 5 is.” The clause, which stipulates collective defense in the case of a NATO ally coming under attack, was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a New York Times interview this summer, Trump told reporters that if elected he might not automatically defend NATO allies, saying he would first look at their contributions to the alliance, and would only automatically aid countries that had “fulfilled their obligations to us,” by paying their organization dues. Biden on Tuesday worked to reassure the Baltic States in particular, saying the U.S. feels a “sacred honor” toward NATO. He said the United States has “never reneged on any commitment we have made” and added that the real-estate mogul’s words should be disregarded and are “nothing that should be taken seriously.”