Donald Trump was schooled by a former NATO ambassador after he humiliated himself by showing that he doesn’t know how NATO works.
Trump tweeted:
Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017
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…vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017
Former NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder took to Twitter to explain to Trump how NATO works:
1/ Sorry, Mr. President, that’s not how NATO works. The US decides for itself how much it contributes to defending NATO. pic.twitter.com/8svkzRBEQb
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
2/ This is not a financial transaction, where NATO countries pay the US to defend them. It is part of our treaty commitment.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
3/ All NATO countries, including Germany, have committed to spend 2% of GDP on defense by 2024. So far 5 of 28 NATO countries do.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
4/ Those who currently don’t spend 2% of their GDP on defense are now increasing their defense budgets. That’s a good thing.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
5/ But no funds will be paid to the US. They are meant to increase NATO’s overall defense capabilities, given the growing Russian threat.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
6/ Europe must spend more on defense, but not as favor (or payment) to the US. But because their security requires it.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017
Daalder was the US Ambassador to NATO from 2009-2013, so he knows what he is talking about.
No wonder the meeting with Angela Merkel was such an awkward disaster. Trump is making demands for something that he knows nothing about. The President appears to be under the delusion that the US runs NATO, that NATO is sort of US Mar-a-Lago, and it is up to Trump to collect the dues for this private club.
The fact that Trump is trying to weaken NATO only strengthens the suspicions that he is Putin’s stooge. The US government is being led by a man who knows nothing about how government works. Every single moment that Donald Trump steps onto the world stage is more humiliation for the United States of America.
Trump’s ignorance is an embarrassment because when the President Of United States humiliates himself, he also humiliates the entire country.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
