Opinion: Trump’s Moronic Lies – Germany Doesn’t Owe America Vast Sums of Money

There is little doubt that it would be difficult to find many Americans who would disagree that Trump revels in offending America’s allies, lies pathologically and demonstrates his rank ignorance about everything under the Sun. Of course, he is much more than just an offensive imbecile who lies at about the same rate normal people take a breath, but there are word limits in opinion pieces; so focusing on Trump’s affront to human decency and the German people is the theme du jour.

It was bad enough that the Trump’s news conference with the leader of the free world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was as major an embarrassment to Americans as it was infuriating to Germans. However, Trump seemingly outdid his own stupidity by displaying his woeful lack of decency by repeating his need for NATO allies to pay America more for defense. Whether Trump knows it or not, America is not NATO; it is the only member nation that has used Article 5 requiring other NATO countries to come for defensive assistance. Despite that bonafide clusterf*ck of a comment, Trump then went to his favorite media outlet, the Twitter, to again insult a staunch ally, Germany and do what he does naturally; tell a monumental lie.

When Trump “tweeted’ that “Germany owes America vast sums of money” and demanded that Germany increase its defense budget because they should be paying America even more, he revealed he is as clueless about NATO as he is an evil know-nothing liar. Of course Trump’s absurd claim may garner support from his stupid acolytes, but to anyone with an attention span longer than a “Planck Length,” his remarks are not only false, they are frighteningly stupid and a national humiliation.

First, it is noteworthy to state that the German people are as repulsed by Donald Trump as a majority of Americans and most of civilized society worldwide. Seriously, it doesn’t matter what country one calls home, no decent human being likes a liar and a bully. And it is safe to say that no country’s citizens like the idea of an “ugly American” like Trump ordering them to do anything, much less spend more for war. This is particularly true of Germans who hold fast to the mantra “never again” to prevent a military buildup that led to the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust.

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First, according to real security experts and a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, even if Germany increased its national defense budget according to Trump’s demand, not one penny of that money is ever going to be transferred into Donald Trump’s personal bank account, or America’s treasury. Mr. Daalder also rightly noted that despite Trump’s moronic claims, NATO only designated the 2-percent of GDP requirement a couple of years ago. NATO member nations, “the alliance,” gave each and every member state until 2024 to reach the “2-percent” goal; Germany is well on track to easily meet that “contribution requirement.”

It is something Trump might know if he wasn’t glued to conspiracy websites, fake television news (Fox) and the “Twitter.” It is also noteworthy that Trump does not get to order any foreign nation, particularly a devoted ally, to increase its defense budget because Trump wants more money.

According to Mr. Daalder:

“Trump’s comments misrepresent the way NATO functions. The President keeps saying that ‘we’ need to be paid by the Europeans for the fact that we have troops in Europe or provide defense there. But that’s not how it works.”

It is probably true that dumb Don was likely informed by someone on his campaign staff exactly how NATO works, but he thinks it makes him sound like an authority to continue claiming that no other NATO members are contributing what Trump says is right in his pea-brain; more money for what “he needs.”

“NATO members are ‘urged to contribute’ 2 percent of their GDP to defense spending” with no requirement that it goes into Donald Trump’s, or America’s, bank account. And, “urged to contribute” is a damn sight different than “you owe me” more money. Right now Germany is spending 1.2 percent of its GDP on national defense and only four other member nations are meeting their “contribution” obligation.

Something the Trump can hardly comprehend is that the Germans are more than making up for that 0.8 percent in other, more important ways than buying and building weapons. As Chancellor Merkel stated in a speech just last month, “mutual security goes beyond military spending.” The real leader of the free world, Angela Merkel, noted that spending Germans’ tax dollars on International development aid for things like hospitals and schools does as much for peace as warheads in Europe. Ms. Merkel said:

“When we help people in their home countries to live a better life and thereby prevent crises, this is also a contribution to security. So I will not be drawn into a debate about who is more military-minded and who is less.”

Chancellor Merkel and other Germans in leadership positions have also noted that they are bearing the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis at a cost of 30 to 40 billion euros a year. As Ms. Merkel pointed out, if those 30 to 40 billion euros were included in the NATO-requirement tally, “they’d be putting a lot more than 2 percent of their budget a year toward security.”

The Germans, like most cognizant human beings on Earth, are also “quick to note” that the overriding reason there are so many “displaced people in the Middle East,” particularly in Syria, is because of American military interventions. Remember, if America had not invaded, occupied and destabilized Iraq, there is no flood of angry Iraqis fleeing into Syria, no Syrian civil war or humanitarian crisis, there is no ISIS, and there is no need for Germany or any other nation to take in Syrian refugees displaced because Americans are enamored with wars and spending on weapons.

Trump was lying when he said Germany owes vast amounts of money to NATO and that it has to pay the United States more for its very expensive weapons; American taxpayers are already paying an inordinate amount of their hard-earned tax dollars for expensive weapons. Trump also reminded the entire world that he knows absolutely nothing whatsoever about how NATO works and is too inherently arrogant and stupid to comprehend that everyone on Earth knows he is a monumental moron. What may be worse, though, is that he once again insulted another American ally by attempting to pressure them into spending more on weapons of war and actually expecting them to acquiesce and do as they’re told making Donald Trump the personification of the “Ugly American.” That may be acceptable to Trump and his barbarically savage followers, but for the rest of the nation it is a humiliation that is getting harder to countenance with every passing day.

Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.