The old worries return to Europe….
(They suffered thru four years of President Trump giving them shit sandwiches)
And in some places in America….
(People from Europe are now a LOT of American voters)
As President Donald Trump made clear he is NOT a internationalist….
He also made clear that he’s about the MONEY….
Finally?
He has always made clear that he adores ‘Strong Men’….
That would include Russian President Putin….
Mr. Trump has never believed in the fundamental one-for-all-and-all-for-one concept of the Atlantic alliance. Indeed, he spent much of his four-year presidency undermining it while strong-arming members into keeping their commitments to spend more on their own militaries with the threat that he would not come to their aid otherwise.
But he took it to a whole new level over the weekend, declaring at a rally in South Carolina that not only would he not defend European countries he deemed to be in arrears from an attack by Russia, he would go so far as to “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” against them. Never before has a president of the United States suggested he would incite an enemy to attack American allies.
Some may discount that as typical Trump rally bluster or write it off as a poor attempt at humor. Others may even cheer the hard line against supposedly deadbeat allies who in this view have taken advantage of American friendship for too long. But Mr. Trump’s rhetoric foreshadows potentially far-reaching changes in the international order if he wins the White House again in November with unpredictable consequences.
What’s more, Mr. Trump’s riff once again raised uncomfortable questions about his taste in friends. Encouraging Russia to attack NATO allies, even if he were not fully serious, is a stunning statement that highlights his odd affinity for President Vladimir V. Putin, who has already proved his willingness to invade neighboring countries that do not have the protection of NATO.
Long averse to alliances of any kind, Mr. Trump in a second term could effectively end the security umbrella that has guarded friends in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East for much of the nearly eight decades since the end of World War II. Just the suggestion that the United States could not be depended on would negate the value of such alliances, prompt longtime friends to hedge and perhaps align with other powers and embolden the likes of Mr. Putin and Xi Jinping of China….
…
Trump has long been a fierce critic of U.S. participation in the alliance, frequently hammering European countries on their share of defense spending, and appeared to be referring to indirect funding as part of participation in the alliance.
Since 2006, each NATO member has had a guideline of spending at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense spending by 2024. NATO countries were already increasing their funding substantially before Trump’s presidency, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. More than half have met or come close to that goal as of 2023, and many member countries have increased their spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has previously suggested that he threatened not to protect NATO allies from a Russian attack. During a 2022 event at the Heritage Foundation, the former president recounted a meeting where he told fellow foreign leaders that he may not follow NATO’s Article 5 collective defense clause if other countries did not spend more for their own defense….
…
Under Article 5, if a NATO ally is attacked, other member countries of NATO consider it “an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked.” Since NATO’s founding in 1949, the clause has been invoked only once: On Sept. 12, 2001, after the terrorist attacks in the United States the day before…
…
“NATO isn’t a pay to play set up, as Trump seems to think. It’s an Alliance that is first and foremost about US national security interests to prevent another world war originating in Europe,” said Alina Polyakova, president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis, in an email to The Post. “The US investment in NATO is worth every dollar – the only time that the article 5 collective defense clause was initiated was in response to 9/11. Our Allies came to our aid then, and it would be shameful and misguided to not do the same.”
In May 2017, Trump initially did not affirm the United States’ commitment to Article 5, but then reversed course two weeks later. Trump broadly has expressed skepticism about NATO. His campaign website states: “we have to finish the process we began under my Administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO’s purpose and NATO’s mission.”
The New York Times reported in 2019 that Trump discussed withdrawing from NATO. While he was in office, Trump repeatedly tried to claim credit for making NATO countries pay more, claiming that “hundreds of billions” of dollars came to NATO as a result of his complaints about other countries as “delinquent” members…
There could be a POLITICAL downside for Trump IN America from his comments….
Last night, recounting a conversation with an unnamed “president,” Trump confirmed that was, indeed, his view. But he added a shocking new twist.
“No, I would not protect you,” Trump said he told the European leader. “In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay.”
The version of the clip posted on X by the Biden campaign has over 16 million views this morning.
Aside from the obvious national security implications, there are potential political implications to Trump’s comment. It’s worth noting that the NATO member countries most concerned about future Russian aggression — Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — also happen to be well represented in the three pivotal swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Just for fun, we dug into the numbers this morning:
- 2020 margin of victory for Biden: 2.78 percentage points, 154,181 votes
- Polish, Finnish or Baltic population: Approximately 900,000
- 2020 margin of victory for Biden: 1.18 percentage points, 82,166 votes
- Polish, Finnish or Baltic population: Approximately 800,000
- 2020 margin of victory for Biden: 0.63 percentage points, 20,682 votes
- Polish, Finnish or Baltic population: Approximately 500,000….
image…NBC News
Quote of the Day
“Oh, Putin must be absolutely thrilled. If you look at it from Putin’s perspective, you know, the war isn’t going well in Ukraine for Russia. Russians keep coming back in body bags. NATO is enlarging around him with two new nations joining NATO. NATO is strengthening. And along comes Donald Trump there to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for Russia and for the United States and our NATO allies.”
— Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), on MSNBC, on Donald Trump saying he’d encourage Russia to attack NATO allies.
Netanyahu and Putin want Trump to win, in hopes that Trump will be easier to handle than Biden.
On the other hand, I’m not sure that Iran or North Korea want his return (he and John Bolton tore up both Joint Common Plans for Action, with predicable results, and I can’t see, given current relations between the Great Powers that another one can be stitched together. Cue Dame Vera Lynn.)
Both guys Bibi and Donald seem to LIKE the Russian leader….
Both guys seem to like the guys style….
No, Netanyahu does not like Putin,. What a foolish, ridiculous statement.
Well CG?
His actions could be seen as a copy of Putin overrunning someone else’s house?
Yes, because Ukraine invaded Russia. It’s the same thing. I think you have it backwards. It was Hamas that invaded Israel and says they will do so again. It is Hamas that refuses to stop attacking, Hamas are the ones that overrun houses and killed and raped and mutilated innocent people. Hamas is the one who are killing Palestinian people by using them as shields and preventing them from seeking safety. Hamas are the ones you called “moderates.” Remember that?
You are an idiot on this topic, and in my view an anti-Semite. This is why I should not even be engaging you on this issue. This is the only time I will do so. Nobody else ever engages you on this. Stick to things you do less poorly.
Oh come ON CG!
Hamas actions on Oct 7 were HORRIFIC and Un warranted….
I HAVE said this here….
I have pointed out that Israel will seek out and TAKE OUT the aggressor’s
BUT?????
As in Ukraine?
Mass injuries, destruction and deaths along with starvation IS something BOTH Putin and Bibi ARE directing..,..
I know u have skin the game
But Bibi ‘s poll numbers ARE WORSE than Putin’s
Israel has every to exist
But brutally removing the inhabitants of Gaza is NOT something most support….
Nor do they support the actions of Putin
I said this before
There IS ENOUGH BLAME for BOTH SIDES
All sides in BOTH CONFLICTS…
And CG?
Joe Biden is applying for the list also
This will be the last one.
Bibi has worse poll numbers than Putin? For one, that would be irrelevant, but where are you getting your sense of Putin’s poll numbers? Are you talking about within Russia? I do not think they have legitimate polling there. Israel is a democracy where people can speak freely and criticize their leaders. Russia is not.
Certainly, Netanyahu is more popular in the U.S. than Putin is. as will be the next PM of Israel. The anti-Semites on the Left and Right will dislike whomever replaces Bibi just as much as they dislike him. Maybe Mar-A-Lago and your house in Elmont feel differently.
I have “skin in the game?” What is that supposed to mean? I do not think you are clever enough to attempt a Bris joke, so you seem to be saying because I am Jewish, that I am somehow compromised and cannot view this overall matter as an American. You have many times made this sort of inference against Chuck Schumer.
Plenty of non-Jews in America agree with me on supporting Israel. Some Jews disagree with me. It is shameful that you and Donald Trump would engage in the type of rhetoric that would question the loyalty of a Jewish-American to America. It is textbook anti-Semitism.
You ARE DEFENDING BIBI……:
Skin in the game
Actually?
I did a post pointing out Sanders IS AGAINST FUNDING FOR Israel
Stop with I’m against Israel
I want the carnage to end and yes
A political not a military solution
The Arabs have the right to live in their land
And there will be no peace without a political solution
On this topic, I am sure North Korea and Kim Jung Un would prefer Trump win. Likely, China also.
Iran would prefer Biden wins.
Obviously, Putin and Russia are counting extremely on Trump.
Ukraine obviously knows that Democrats are supporting them in the U.S. more than Republicans.
As for Israel, I very much doubt Netanyahu, a democratically elected leader, who is certainly not part of the Russia/Iran alliance, likes Trump very much personally. Very few people in Israel actually like Trump. However, one cannot blame them for recognizing that within the United States, Republicans are more supportive across the board of Israel than Democrat are these days.
I think that (among the Axis of Tyranny) China would dislike Trump because he always espoused a very Sinophobic policy on issues like free trade. (On the other hand, it might be possible that the isolationist appeaser Donald Trump considers Taiwan to be a freeloader like NATO countries.)
Cuba wouldn’t like Trump because his people (many from the irreconcilable Cuban-American faction in Florida) instituted or reinforced a very hard line on things like sanctions, migration and diplomatic relations. Obama (with the sympathies of a younger generation of Cuban-Americans) had tried to thaw things out.
Didn’t Obama allow direct US/Cuba flights?
Putin was afraid of Hillary Clinton
Helped Trump get his government job