During a campaign rally in North Carolina earlier this year, former President Donald Trump accused some NATO member countries of not spending enough on defense and suggested that they don't deserve to be protected.

While those remarks were met with widespread condemnation, one high-level European official recently confessed that the president's accusation is true. 

"He's right that we should be spending more in Europe"

According to the Daily Caller, that admission came on Wednesday from Radoslaw Sikorski, who serves as Poland's foreign minister.

Sikorski was being interviewed by MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell, who at one point asked, "What would you say to Donald Trump, who actually said that he would encourage Putin to go into NATO countries who don’t pay their fair share."

"Well, we hope that’s just flowery rhetoric," Sikorski said before quickly adding, "He's right that we should be spending more in Europe."

"Poland is spending well over 3% of GDP [gross domestic product] on defense and we’ve placed $50 billion worth of defense, orders in the United States," the foreign minister explained.

Data published on NATO'S website shows that in 2023, less than one third of the alliance's member nations met or exceeded defense spending requirements.

Trump: "You gotta pay your bills"

Fox News reported that during his North Carolina campaign speech, Trump complained of NATO being "busted until I came along."

"I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.' They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?' I said, 'Absolutely not.' They couldn't believe the answer," Trump continued.

Trump: One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, Well, sir, if we don't pay and were attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said.. No I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. pic.twitter.com/2RPVDFZIXy

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2024

Trump then recalled how "one of the presidents of a big country" asked if the United States would intervene if his nation were invaded by Russia.

"'You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?'" Trump claimed to have said. "'No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'"

Marco Rubio defends Trump's comments

Rolling Stone magazine reported that Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio rallied to Trump's defense in the face of criticism over what the former president had said.

"What he’s basically saying is… NATO was broke or busted until he took over because people weren’t paying their dues, and then he told a story of how he used leverage to make people step up to the plate and become more active in NATO," Rolling Stone quoted Rubio as telling CNN host Jake Tapper.

"Virtually every American president at some point in some way has complained about other countries in NATO not doing enough. Trump’s just the first one to express it in these terms," he added.