Donald Trump threatened America’s European allies on Saturday morning, saying that they need to pay up “to protect Europe” from future world wars.
“The idea of a European Military didn’t work out too well in W.W. I or 2,” the increasingly unhinged president tweeted. “All we ask is that you pay your fair share of NATO.”
The idea of a European Military didn’t work out too well in W.W. I or 2. But the U.S. was there for you, and always will be. All we ask is that you pay your fair share of NATO. Germany is paying 1% while the U.S. pays 4.3% of a much larger GDP – to protect Europe. Fairness!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2018
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Of course, the Trump line about NATO allies not paying enough to uphold the alliance is stale and old. It’s one he made repeatedly during the campaign and continues to make now.
But the person who never grows tired of it is Vladimir Putin, the man who would love to see the NATO alliance evaporate into thin air.
This is another Trump distraction
Picking a fight with American allies over a potential future World War III only serves one purpose for Trump right now – to distract from the increasingly threatening Mueller investigation.
What the special counsel court filings showed this week is not, as Trump said, that he is “totally” cleared. Instead, as Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu pointed out on Friday night, it further proves that “we have a sitting President of the United States who committed two felonies while running for President.”
“Right now, we have a sitting President of the United States who committed two felonies while running for President.” @tedlieu on Trump. #Hardball pic.twitter.com/gyEXuOIgsk
— Hardball (@hardball) December 8, 2018
Not to mention, as PoliticusUSA’s Leo Vidal noted on Saturday, Mueller’s new filings also seem to contain evidence of illegal Trump collusion with the Russians.
Whether it’s whining about NATO or attacking the Paris agreement – which he also did on Saturday – Trump is running out of ways to distract from a federal investigation that is quickly closing in on him.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
