No. of Recommendations: 20
"This is an example of the left not understanding Trump's style....
Let me point out what I am getting at by asking a question
Which answer do you think will spur the recalcitrant members of NATO towards meeting their spending commitments? The answer he gave or this answer
He said: "One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, “Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?"
Trump: Well gosh golly, the USA knows times are tough, so catch up when you can and don't worry about your commitment. The USA has your back."
I know you will do anything to excuse Trump's behavior, but this is beyond stupid.
For one, if the exchange Trump was talking about really did take place with a foreign leader and Trump said what he said and it was all private. That is one thing. It is crass, undiplomatic, and overall dumb, but it was said in private when he was only talking to the head of an ally. It is bad but whatever, he was awkwardly trying to hold an ally to commitments that Trump does not actually understand. Fine. Dumb, but not the dumbest thing he has ever done.
That is not what happened though. Trump was standing in front a huge crowd with cameras and the world able to hear. It wasn't just a close ally of this country listening, it was also enemies of this country. Trump just loudly announced to the whole world that under him as president, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a NATO ally if it was invaded. He was not only threatening allies, but he was also telling enemies that U.S. support for NATO was conditional under him and not definite.
For two, one of the reasons countries always make signing mutual self-defense treaties a big spectacle with all sorts of pomp and circumstance is that they want their enemies to know it is a big deal and that they really mean it. That means always showing a public unity about coming to each other's defense. For over 70 years, everyone in NATO made it quite clear publicly that they were going to come to each other's defense without question. Now over those 70 years many NATO countries got into different little arguments and disagreements with other members over lots of things. There have been trade wars, border disputes, and spying on each other. Some leaders of NATO countries didn't like leaders of other NATO countries. Despite all of that, every NATO country made it quite clear publicly that an attack on one was an attack on all, and if any member was attacked the others would come to their defense.
There was never any doubt about this. Never. That is why the Soviet Union/Russia/Putin hated NATO so much. That unified front gave its members relative peace and prosperity for over 70 years.
Donald Trump has made it clear that if he is president, there will be some doubt about the U.S. supporting its allies.
For three, it is clear Donald Trump does not understand NATO, which means that his cult members will not understand NATO. He thinks of it as some club where everyone is supposed to pay their dues (share). So when he hears other countries are failing to live up to their committed defense spending levels that the U.S. is being taken advantage of. He thinks of committed defense spending levels like club dues. It is clear that his cult believes this as well. In reality, committed defense spending levels are not club dues according to the treaty, but like most stupid people, once they are firmly convinced of something, nothing will change their mind.
So, with his narrow, misinformed view firmly set, Trump thinks the U.S. would be better off on its own than in a world where it was supporting the defense for much of Europe.
Such a myopic view ignores all of the benefits the U.S. gains just by such an alliance like NATO existing. As mentioned, NATO has kept relative peace in much of Europe for over 70 years. The U.S. benefits greatly when its allies (and trade partners) have the safety to grow and prosper. Everyone benefits. The U.S. could not have won the cold war by itself if it was not for NATO. Despite being different treaties with different members, without NATO the European Union never comes into existence. Without NATO, all of the migrants into Europe from Africa and the Middle East would have caused numerous wars in Europe long ago. Without NATO the fall of the Berlin war and the reunification of East Germany and the rest of the Soviet Bloc back into Europe would never have gone smoothly and probably cause at least another European war. In Ukraine, without NATO it is clear that Russia's aggressions in Ukraine would have spilled over into other European countries.
NATO stops wars by giving its members an assumption of peace and security. The U.S. benefits from a peaceful Europe.
I know that many cultists don't think that whether or not there is peace in Europe affects the U.S., but it does. There are two world wars to prove it. There were lots of people who thought Hitler was a "European problem". Now Putin is just a "European problem". Wars in Europe don't stay contained within the borders of Europe.
