Tag: NATO

What Trump’s NATO defense plan would mean for the US

The following article by Niv Elis was posted on the Hill website July 15, 2018:

President Donald Trump at NATO Credit: Getty Images

President Trump‘s suggestion this past week that all NATO members double their targeted defense spending to 4 percent of their economic output is drawing skepticism from defense spending experts.

Trump regularly takes a hard-line tack when it comes to negotiations with U.S. allies, often floating more extreme scenarios while trying to nail down specific commitments. He floated the 4 percent figure while pushing allies to reach the current goal of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

Experts aren’t sure the U.S., which already spends more on defense than the next eight largest defense spenders combined, needs the extra boost, while budget watchers are concerned that substantially expanding defense spending would further inflate an already-mammoth deficit.

View the complete post on the Hill website here.div algn

French president debunks Trump’s latest whopper about NATO allies

The following article by Eric Boehlert was posted on the ShareBlue.com website July 12, 2018:

Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP Photo

Trump tried to take credit for an agreement that already existed, and French president Emmanuel Macron immediately called him out for lying.

Having concocted a NATO crisis during the alliance’s annual meeting this week, Trump announced that he had magically solved a problem he himself created.

He’s lying, of course.

On Wednesday, Trump berated America’s longtime allies by insisting the U.S. has been “taken advantage of” by other members of the NATO alliance because they spend less than the U.S. does on military defense.

View the complete article on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Many fact checks later, President Trump is (still) botching NATO spending By Meg Kelly July 13

The following article by Meg Kelly was posted on the Washington Post website July 13, 2018:

President Trump (still) consistently misstates his impact on NATO’s budget and how that budget works. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

The Fact Checker first reviewed a series of inaccurate statements that then-candidate Donald Trump made about the funding of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, back in March 2016. Over two and a half years and many Pinocchios later, Trump still doesn’t seem to understand how NATO works.

He tweeted and commented on defense spending while browbeating NATO allies about supposed unpaid debts at the this year’s annual summit. But the numbers he used were often misleading or just plain wrong. As a reader service, we looked into six claims the president just couldn’t and hasn’t stopped repeating.

“Prior to last year where I attended my first meeting, it was going down, the amount of money being spent by countries was going down and down very substantially, and now it’s going up very substantially … I let them know last year, in a less firm manner, but pretty firm, and they raised an additional $33 billion. … [NATO is] richer than it ever was.” — in a news conference, on July 12

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wrote, “The upswing in NATO defense spending over the past year and a half demonstrates that [President Trump’s] efforts are making a difference.” Yet, they don’t match the president’s boasts of success. Member countries have been spending more on their defense since 2014. Excluding the U.S., members have collectively increased defense spending by $11.4 billion over the past year, when adjusted for inflation and using 2010 prices and exchange rates. (Trump could be referencing the same calculation in today’s dollars, which comes to $34 billion.)

‘Rubbing salt in the wounds’: Trump won’t take yes for an answer at NATO

The following article by Philip Rucker, John Hudson and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2018:

President Trump checks time prior to a dinner with other leaders at the NATO. Credit: Geert Vanden Wijngaert, AP

BRUSSELS — For a president who loves declaring victory, the NATO summit here Wednesday could have provided a perfect opportunity.

After a year of haranguing by President Trump, Western leaders had agreed to his administration’s long-sought priorities on defense spending and counterterrorism — and were prepared to let him take all the credit.

But Trump had other plans.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

When Trump attacked Germany in Brussels, his aides pursed their lips and glanced away

The following article by Rebecca Tan was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2018:

President Trump slammed Germany on July 11, over a gas pipeline deal with Russia. He said the country is now “captive to Russia.” (Reuters)

President Trump kicked off his trip to Europe with a biting critique of the United States’ longtime allies, declaring at a breakfast meeting that Germany “is captive to Russia.” Next to him, three of his senior officials seemed uncomfortable at times, pursing their lips and glancing away from the table.

Trump is in Brussels for the 29th annual NATO summit, where he is meeting, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His charge that Germany is captive to Russia comes days before he is scheduled to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a one-on-one that he has described as the “easiest” of his meetings this week.

In the clip shown above, Trump begins by citing German imports of Russian gas as evidence that “Germany is totally controlled by Russia.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remains stoic as Trump lays out his complaint, but U.S. ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly look uncomfortable. Hutchison appears to avert her gaze from her NATO colleagues sitting across from her, while Kelly looks down, then shifts his body and glances away, lips pursed tightly.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Trump’s NATO trip shows ‘America First’ is ‘America Alone’

The following article by Ishaan Tharoor was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2018:

President Trump arrived in Brussels with a clear message: It is time America stopped footing Europe’s bill. His complaint is not new for European leaders, who have weathered Trump’s attacks on the transatlantic system for more than a year, but it is becoming more and more troubling.

The NATO summit that starts Wednesday will be shadowed entirely by Trump’s irritation with the alliance and the inability or unwillingness of many of its members to set their military budgets at the recommended 2 percent of gross domestic product. Ahead of Trump’s arrival in Brussels, he issued tweets linking his antipathy toward NATO with his broader anger over trade relations with the European Union: Continue reading “Trump’s NATO trip shows ‘America First’ is ‘America Alone’”

Trump’s combative words on NATO put Mattis in an increasingly tough spot

The following article by Missy Ryan and Greg Jaffe was posted on the Washington Post website July 9, 2019:

President Trump will attend the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12 amid disagreements with long-time allies over trade and Russia. (Patrick Martin /The Washington Post)

For Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, this week’s NATO summit presents a central test: how to preserve a U.S.-European alliance that he sees as crucial to America’s security while not crossing a boss who doesn’t share that view.

The summit, which will bring Mattis and President Trump together with the traditional allies of the United States, illustrates the tightrope the former general has walked since arriving at the Pentagon. The two have differed on torture, the war in Syria and, most centrally for Mattis, the value of America’s alliances as it confronts an increasingly aggressive Russia and other threats.

Mattis has compensated by keeping a low profile, downplaying differences with Trump and quietly urging the Europeans to judge the administration by its actions and not the president’s tweets.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Poll: Majority wants next justice to support abortion rights

The following article by Steven Shepard was posted on the Politico website July 3, 2018:

While Anthony Kennedy’s replacement could shift the court on a wide range of issues, most of the early questions for senators who will weigh the nomination have centered around abortion. Credit: John Shinkle, POLITICO

A majority of voters want the next Supreme Court justice to support abortion rights, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted in the immediate wake of Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement last week.

With the prospect that President Donald Trump’s pending pick to replace Kennedy could join with the existing four justices appointed by Republican presidents to overturn Roe v. Wade, 52 percent of voters say they hope the new justice supports a woman’s right to an abortion.

Twenty-nine percent say they hope the new justice opposes abortion rights, while the remaining 19 percent don’t know or have no opinion.

View the complete post on the Politico website here.

Trump’s private NATO trashing rattles allies

The following article by Jonathan Swan was posted on the Axios website June 28, 2018:

Pres. Trump and British Prime Minister May at last year’s NATO summit. Credit: Justin Tallis, AFP/Getty Images

You’ve already read a hundred stories about President Trump’s clashes with some of America’s closest allies at the G7 summit in Canada. But we’ve got new details from his private conversations with heads of state that have put some of these leaders on edge leading into next month’s NATO summit.

What we’re hearing: In one extraordinary riff during his meeting with the G7 heads of state earlier this month in Quebec, Trump told the other leaders: “NATO is as bad as NAFTA.” An official read this quote to me from notes transcribed from the private meeting.

Continue reading “Trump’s private NATO trashing rattles allies”

Pres. Trump has flown to Europe to meet with NATO

Before heading off to attend the NATO summit, Pres. Trump was busy on Twitter attacking our allies’ contributions to NATO.  Why is this so odd?

In past administrations, NATO summits were used as an opportunity to maintain our longstanding transatlantic alliances and ensure those relationships stay strong going forward. Based on his icy rapport with our friends overseas, we aren’t so hopeful that Trump with continue this long-standing practice of basic diplomacy.  Unfortunately, we’ve seen through Trump’s words and actions that he would much rather flirt with dictators than build upon our decades-long relationship with NATO. Continue reading “Pres. Trump has flown to Europe to meet with NATO”