Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, urged the U.S. to reevaluate its funding and continued participation in the North American Treaty Organization this weekend, and the bold statement got the attention of Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk.

"Exit NATO *now*!" Lee wrote in a midnight X post, sharing a video of nude, chest-painted women marching in protest in Paris.

Lee's post got the attention of Musk minutes later.

"We really should," Musk replied on X. "Doesn't make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe."

NATO has been criticized for almost a decade by President Donald Trump, who has long questioned why the U.S. is on the hook for the majority of funding for World War II-era European defense alliance.

U.S. GDP is roughly equal to that of the rest of the NATO alliance combined, but the treaty only offers security guarantees for Europe at massive U.S. expense, Trump argues.

Trump has long supported getting European countries to ramp up their spending to the 2% or 3% of gross domestic product, and after the Biden administration saw Russia's Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine, Trump has ramped up the calls for commitments to be closer to 5% of GDP.

Once Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy balked at signing a minerals deal with the Trump administration in an Oval Office dustup, Trump has paused for review the military aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine. Notably, Russia argued it was invading Ukraine to protect it from having NATO admission for Ukraine leaving the world's military might on its borders.

Now that Zelenskyy is walking back demands for security guarantees – after having turned back to NATO allies for support – Trump has said even signing the minerals deal now will not necessarily turn the U.S. weapons, funding, and intelligence spigots back on for Ukraine.

Notably, even Zelenskyy admitted – in challenging Trump and Vice President JD Vance on their urging of using diplomacy with Vladimir Putin – that the U.S. has a big ocean protecting it from any threats from Europe. That position being one Trump frequently argues.

Former Pennsylvania Republican senatorial primary candidate Kathy Barnette also chimed in on Lee's post behind Musk, warning a future "warmongering" president after Trump might ultimately force a NATO-contributing U.S. into World War III.

"We can't leave these people to their own devices," she replied minutes later on X. "WW1 and WW2 were started by these people. They *will* start WW3 if we're not there to check them.

"However, Trump will not be in office forever. If we should get another warmongering president, we will be used again to back another endless war. So, getting out of NATO now in preparation for what happens after Trump."

Article 5 of the NATO charter, the collective defense of NATO countries, as been declared only once, in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. This was undertaken under NATO's initiative, through a request by the U.S.

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