Hillary Clinton is looking to directly contrast herself with Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday by declaring that now is a time for strengthening ties with NATO, not backing away.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Trump said that the United States should reconsider involvement in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because the because the defense alliance costs too much money.
Clinton will say on Wednesday, according to aides, that NATO is more important now than ever and frame the need for the United States to strengthen ties to the organization as the same way that European allies came to the defense of the United States after September 11.
She will be speaking to experts and students at Stanford University a day after terror attacks in Brussels killed more than 30 people.
While aides are arguing that the address is purely focused on policy — “It’s not a politics speech,” said one — much of Clinton’s remarks will be framed by Trump, a real estate mogul, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The former secretary of state will knock their counter-terrorism ideas as dangerous and offensive.
Clinton previewed these remarks on Tuesday in Seattle.
“Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have made our job harder in the last few days. Donald Trump is saying we need to get out of NATO, the most important defense alliance there has ever been,” she said, noting it’s headquarted in Brussels. “We need to modernize it and make it ready to deal with the threats of today. And that is exactly what I will do as president.”
She continued: “Ted Cruz says we need to policing everywhere that Muslims live. I don’t know about you. That is not only offensive, that too is dangerous. We want everyone to feel like we are together.”