‘Trump Is Having An Impact’
Last year, President Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the United States.
Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018, Mr. Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared Mr. Trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set.
This had its intended effect.
NATO Head Credits President’s Tough Talk For $100B Boost
By: William Cummings
President Donald Trump “is committed to NATO” and deserves credit in obtaining $100 billion more in defense spending for the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said Sunday.“President Trump has been very clear: He is committed to NATO. He stated that clearly just a few days ago and also at the NATO summit in July,” Stoltenberg said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Stoltenberg’s comment stands in contrast to Democrats who fear Trump wants to pull out of NATO, and some who have expressed concern he could be undermining the military alliance because it benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A New York Times report earlier this month said Trump repeatedly told aides he wanted to pull out of the alliance. In response to the report, Democrats pushed for legislation requiring congressional approval of any move to leave NATO.
Trump has also been criticized for his aggressive approach in insisting America’s “delinquent” allies pay a greater share toward the collective defense agreement. At the summit in July, he demanded the other members “immediately” increase their contributions.
Stoltenberg said the tough approach paid off.
The very threat of having to look after their own defenses had NATO countries reaching deeper into their budgets to at lest attempt to make good on their commitments. The entire article may be viewed here: USA Today
Category: NATO
NATO is supposed to be a partnership. Instead, it’s mostly been an American umbrella for continental Europe to lounge under without taking their turn holding it up. The eurosocialists have long enjoyed slashing their own defense budgets in the knowledge that Uncle Sam would pick up the slack, and the fall of the Soviet Union made that situation worse.
Now Comrade Vlad is pawing and snorting, and touchy-feely New Europe is worried that the Big Bad Rooskie Bear may decide to come out west again. It’s exactly the right time for a kick in the ass to get them to hold up their end of the bargain.
That umbrella has allowed those nations to use that component of their GDP that should have been used defending themselves for all manner of other social policies.
Self determination should be a priority for any nation, hoping someone else can help you maintain your own self determination is a great way to become nothing more than a vassal state.
Sounds good to me, IMHO it’s high time our Allies started paying more for their defense instead of micromanaging their populace!
Is anyone surprised that career bureaucrats of The Leftist Party and their lapdogs in the media got another manufactured crisis wrong? I guess none of those ninny shit-heads heard of let alone read a book called “The Art of The Deal”. To successfully negotiate, your opponent must be lead to believe you can walk away from deal. No Chucky, no Nancy…he’s not working for Vlad, he working for the American people which is group you two care nothing about. I’m sure the increases in allied funding for NATO will be ignored by all other “news” outlets except Fox. The CNN’s of the world be out trying to create this week’s scandal which is sure bring the President down.
Is anyone surprised that career bureaucrats of The Leftist Party and their lapdogs in the media got another manufactured crisis wrong?
Liberals don’t know what to do without a Crisis DuJour!
Phuck NATO…
https://youtu.be/NdDaZcTnQZI
NATO? That’s a code word for another European war for the USA? Why? If Russia is such a horrible threat to the EU then they can pony-up $$$ for equipment and training.
As it is, NATO right now is probably too much (across domains) for Russia, this is more about natural gas, energy, pipelines, refineries and corruption.
Actually, the Poles, who once again have the most to lose soonest, have been one of our staunchest European allies, and their defense budget relative to their GDP is also one the highest in the EU.
Coincidence?
I love how Trump does these things and gets results. While he’s making his threats to pull us out of unfair practices the left screams and wails and clutches pearls crying how this would be treason and an impeachable offense. Get real.
Like Kamala “I sleep with people for jobs” Harris saying that while Trump is right to pull troops from A-stan, he’s doing it all wrong. Fucking hypocrites.
Contrast: Red Line gave pallets of cash away to Iran. I’m sure that money has been used for humanitarian purposes and to foster peace among terrorists.
Trump to Stoltenberg: “Before I get down to the nitty-gritty, I must point out this is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.”
Been a long time coming, but I guess, better late than never. How many of us that served at one time or several have felt this needed doing?
Anybody got a rough idea or know how to get a rough idea how much the NATO “Alliance” has cost the American Taxpayer?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Dang it all – I had a chart to post, but while interesting, it did not answer your question.
Russia isn’t the same threat to the world as the Soviet Union was either.
Their entire GDP these days is less than the top four US states taken singly.
They can be spent in oblivion quickly should we go that route…
Not if you watch the MSM. They ignore that the Russian military is but a shadow of its former self. They make it seem like Russian subs are still prowling deep along our coasts and their Tu-95s are still probing weekly. The truth is that when these encounters happen they’re big news because it doesn’t happen often.
Meanwhile we continue to be able to operate in multiple theaters simultaneously. Just looking at those infographics that compare the USN to the rest of the world is shocking.
All the Russian fear mongering is without much merit.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I was on a team trying to get NATO to buy JSTARS like they did AWACS. A senior defense official from a wealthy European nation told me, and I’m quoting, “why should we buy your system? If NATO ever needs it, you’ll bring yours.
And, he’s right. Damned freeloaders.
I can’t argue with their logic. But it’s the same mentality that allows a new despot every 50 or so years to conquer most of the continent.
If I were a politician or career Army or Air Force person I would support NATO too. All those junkets to Paris, Bonn, etc. for the political hacks. For the Army and AF, being stationed in Germany, Belgium, or Italy is a damn sight better than being stationed in El Paso or Moose Creek, Alaska. For the Navy, it’s about as far away from LCS and Zumwalts as they can get.
Here’s a perfect example of a NATO ally not ready – Germany. From “the Economist” back in August 2018:
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/08/09/why-germanys-army-is-in-a-bad-state