Trump writes to Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg to demand an increase in defense spending. President Trump's harsh blast at NATO during a rally last night in Helena, Mont., was Europeans’ worst nightmare come to life: Trump portrayed the alliance as one-sided, transactional and bad for the U.S. He seemed to suggest that U.S. military support is conditional on the Germans paying more, calling out “Angela" — the German chancellor. NATO and trade are inseparable: As he said in Montana, Americans are "the schmucks paying for the whole thing." Trump re Europe: "They kill us on trade. They kill us on other things. ... They kill us with NATO. They kill us." The international system is set up to screw the U.S. Now he’s going around the world collecting America’s dues. Trump is correct that the other NATO members aren’t living up to their financial commitments, most NEVER have. But past Presidents were fine with that, because the US TaxPayer paid the freight. NATO member states worry that Trump will come into next week's NATO summit in Brussels like a wrecking ball, and beat up on them over not paying their bills. The Europeans' worst fear, is that Trump is going to inform them that U.S. protection is somehow conditional on them meeting their defense spending commitments. Free-loaders Trump Lays It Down
Just write in to the NATO 'contract', any country delinquent on dues for over a month is out, has to pay up-to-date retroactively plus 10% processing fee to get back in. Its not rocket science.
It seems to pick up the slack. We would be happier then hell if you all picked up the slack and we can cut back.
If you like new technology, it comes from DARPA and the military industrial complex. Do you like the internet ? The internet was designed for the U.S. Air Force. They say if there was no Vietnam War there would be no internet today.
We have been dumb enough, up until now, to carry the additional defense costs of all these free-loading socialists in Europe.
Europeans leaders worry Trump will fulfill promise to bring American troops home After 18 months of Donald Trump's "America First" presidency, European leaders meeting with him next week fear the United States may change its traditional course and begin to bring American troops home from the continent. It comes as nations, especially in Eastern Europe, are lobbying the United States to increase the number of troops on the continent as they worry about combating an increasingly aggressive Russia. Trump has talked about bringing U.S. troops home from around the globe since he was on the campaign trail espousing a strategy he dubbed "America First.” The Pentagon is already reviewing the impact of withdrawing some of the 35,000 active-duty American troops from Free-loading Germany, the Washington Post reported last month. A third of active-duty U.S. military troops overseas — more than 60,000 — are stationed in Europe, including 35,000 in Germany, 12,000 in Italy, 8,500 in the United Kingdom and 3,300 in Spain, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of information from the Defense Manpower Data Center, a statistical arm of the Defense Department. Thousands more rotate into other European countries temporarily. "That’s the question: Is the U.S. security conditional?" asked Heather Conley, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs for Bush and is now a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic & International Studies as she wondered whether our commitment to protect these nations was conditional on them meeting their commitments under the treaty? In other words, if they are not bound by their obligations, are we? The White House declined to say if and how Trump might punish the countries. "I'm not going to get ahead of any announcement or any action he could potentially take, but as you guys know, he's shown some frustration there on the financial burden that the United States unfairly is forced to bear, and he wants changes," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters this week. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article214324579.html
The US had no choice, and the country has no choice either today. The country would never be economically developed as it is today without having supported its military hegemony. Ironically, it was the Republicans who established this policy 60 years ago. And men like John Bolton perpetuate it. Trump wants to force his allies to increase their military spending while he makes them an economic war. Once again, he is playing Putin's game. While Trump is artificially creating a wedge between US and the EU, Russia is getting politically closer to the Balkan countries and Eastern Europe. With the argument that US will not be there to defend them if they are threatened. In short, the President is destroying what the Americans, all parties combined, have taken 60 years to build.
There's where you are wrong, the entire game has changed. We now have someone in power who truly give a rat's ass if the world likes us or not, we are being treated unfairly and he is putting a stop to that. Allies? Dude, we've been paying them to be our friends, a policy established by Justin Bieber politicians who don't care how they spend tax payer dollars, making stupid agreements that are detrimental to the US just so someone will "like" us. The Paris Accord is the straw that broke the camel's back for me, I've had enough of all the beseeching outstretched hands... You better start putting in on this, man.
You're talking nonsense. You are proof that a populist politician can use hate from his base to get elected.
So you are literally using threats of name calling if I don't reach over and pick up the check for the party you all enjoyed? ??
They are free-loading on NATO while they maintain Trade Surpluses against our producers. Our current account was balanced 60 years ago, it's not today. The Wedge is Real, they think they have a right to screw us on Trade and on NATO and they are getting put on notice, that actually, they don't. It's in the national interests of the US Electorate for Russia to have hostile, rather than peaceful, relations with Eastern Europe and the Balkans? We have never even hinted that we were not completely committed to NATO nations that are committed to meeting their military spending commitments. Not once, not a single time. If a country doesn't feel like honoring their NATO commitments, well, that's their choice, we will not force them to. It's turned into a farce since the USSR fell. If you want to fund the military for nations that don't want to meet their NATO spending commitments, by all means, go start a Go Fund Me page for them. Germany could use a working submarine. Their entire military, doesn't have a single working sub.
US have become less competitive. Over the last 10-15 years, European companies have invested more in manpower training and technological development. It is not by imposing tarrifs that the US will catch up. Protectionism has never made a nation richer. Yes. We call it the containment strategy. Russia, for example, uses Gazprom to forge trade ties with its neighbours, but they are more inclined, for the time being, to align themselves with NATO members at the military level. If Russia is allowed to establish a protectorate with his limitropic countries, there is a significant risk of ending up with a second cold war. Haven't you heard that Germany hasn't had the right to have an offensive army since 1945?
I think NATO's nightmare is that it serves no useful purpose and will thus go out of business soon. All that keeps it going now is inertia.
Sure, it's our fault that Germany free-loads on both Trade and NATO WHAT HATH MERKEL WROUGHT? Germany’s Air Force Is Dying a Slow Death. The German magazine Spiegel recently revealed that most of the Luftwaffe’s—the modern German air force’s—128 Eurofighter Typhoons are not flightworthy. In fact, only about ten of the aircraft are ready for operations, Spiegel said. This raises doubts about Germany’s ability to meet its NATO defense commitments. “The problem is complicated,” according to Spiegel. Germany, at least, has been playing games with the Typhoon’s operational readiness, according to Spiegel. “The Luftwaffe counts all Eurofighter jets that are allowed to fly as available. But this includes many who do not have a functioning self-protection system. These may be used with dummies on the wings for training flights or maneuvers. Real missions, such as airspace surveillance on the eastern edge of NATO, are excluded with these jets.” The problem is not “complicated.” Berlin has decided not to devote the resources necessary to keep its air force flying, and so now it barely can fly. The sad fact is that the last time the Luftwaffe was in this sad a shape, it was due to American, British, and Soviet enemy action.
It's a farce. These folks think they don't need a military so they don't spend on one, though they are happy to free-load off the US. Greece makes its commitments, because its rightfully scared to death of (NATO Ally) Turkey.
If we didn't, our GDP would be probably 10% lower. We are global traders. We learned that in the early days of the country, when Thomas Jefferson sent the U.S. Navy (and Marines) after the Barbary pirates. Isolationism doesn't work.
I love how the socialists on this board like to make the claim that many European countries are better than us because of the social programs that they provide their people, which they can only afford to do because they don't have to fund their militaries due to US protection. What will become of these social programs once the US backs our troops out of Europe and they are forced to spend more of their GDP on protection vs. social programs. The left wants us to reduce our military budget, then at the same time they criticize Trump for calling Europe out for taking advantage of us for decades. Best way to reduce our defense spending would be to no longer have to be the bulk of Europe's defense force. You can't have it both ways libs...
fyi, in vietnam and iraq the us did it alone, how did that work out. only fools think the us can do it all by themselves and has forgotten history.
Couldn't have said it better myself. And it's something the socialists here will never understand. They point to the socialist utopias in Europe, but are too dumb to realize that we're paying for it
fyi, we tied one hand behind our back in Vietnam, I bet we don't do that again huh? lol... And Iraq, we had a Coalition of Nations who participated...
