via twitter….
NATO official tells me: “I expected bad, and I kept telling people to expect bad, but it is still surreal to see.”
…
This is getting to be typical Donald Trump…..
Punch….Then try to cozy up and get something he wants….
So far?
It’s only worked with a tax cut and against Republicans….
(There has been bad blood between German Chancellor Merkel and Trump from the day he got into office….)
President Trump kicked off his two-day visit with NATO allies by doing exactly what many of them feared, worsening tensions within the alliance by claiming that Germany, a bulwark of the transatlantic democratic order, “is totally controlled by” and “captive to Russia.”
Trump, who often goes on the attack by accusing someone of behavior he has been accused of, irked allies last month by suggesting that Russia should be readmitted to the G-7, and is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday. He began a series of meetings with NATO leaders here Wednesday by suggesting during a welcome breakfast that a natural gas pipeline project has made Germany subservient to Russia.
He did not name the project, but appeared to be referring to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would transport Russian gas to Germany’s Baltic coast and dramatically increase the amount of gas Russia is able to export directly to Germany. The U.S. and some European Union countries oppose the project.
“Germany is totally controlled by Russia,” Trump said. “You tell me if that’s appropriate because I think it’s not.”…
Note…
As usual ?
A senior Trump admin official is left to clean up Trump’s mess….
First, President Donald Trump held an awkward, confrontational breakfast in Brussels with the head of NATO about insufficient defense spending by alliance members and frustration over German support for a Russian gas pipeline.
A few hours later on Wednesday, his secretary of state tweeted effusive praise of the organization.
“.@NATO is the most successful alliance in history,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter. “All #NATO allies have committed to extending this success through increased defense spending, deterrence and defense, and fighting terrorism. Weakness provokes; strength and cohesion protects. This remains our bedrock belief.”
That upbeat assessment contrasted with Trump’s statement at the breakfast that “many countries owe us. The United States is paying far too much and other countries are not paying enough.”…
image..yahoo
POLITICO
@politico
“I myself lived through a part of Germany being controlled by the Soviet Union. And I am very happy that today we are united in freedom,” Angela Merkel said in response to Donald Trump’s comments that Berlin is now “totally controlled by Russia.”
People might want to know….
Germany imports 35% of its oil from Russia….
I’m sure Trump would like Germany to import MORE oil from America thousands of miles away….
Also…
The compliant that NATO members do not spend enough on military is an old one….
It goes back to the Bush years….
THE FACTS: There is no such debt to the U.S. or to NATO. Therefore, no delinquency or question of payment.
In 2014, before Trump was president, NATO members agreed to stop cutting their military budgets and set a goal of moving “toward” spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense — by 2024. It was not a “commitment,” not a direct contribution to NATO, not a payment owed to the U.S., and not something that alliance members pledged to achieve immediately.
Trump is right that most NATO members are spending less than 2 percent of their GDP on their defense budget, though more are moving in that direction…..
More…