Trump threatens NATO members
Donald Trump’s norm-busting behavior has redefined the term “unprecedented.” Indeed, he has given political reporters and pundits cause to toss that term around like confetti at a New Year’s Eve bash.
Case in point is the unprecedented way Trump threatened he would encourage Russia to have its way with NATO members who “do not pay their bill.” This threat was part of his convoluted pitch to the Republican-controlled House to reject a $95 billion spending bill the Senate was poised to pass.
This bill, among other things, provides aid to help Ukraine fend off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s genocidal onslaught.
‘Can you imagine?’ Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House. ‘A former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can — I never will. For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.’
(The New York Times, February 13, 2024)
But let’s face it: Trump offered little more than dumb, shameful, dangerous, and un-American rhetoric in 2016. And the American people elected him president anyway.
Ironically, Biden’s outrage only made him appear just as Special Counsel Robert K. Hur famously characterized him: a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory and diminished faculties in advancing age.”
Trump threatening NATO is nothing new
Trump is nothing if not consistent and predictable. Sure enough, YouTube is littered with clips of him bashing NATO, dating back nearly 40 years.
However, there’s no denying his essential truth: All members pledged to commit 2% of GDP to their own national defense to bolster NATO’s collective defense. Yet, many have never appropriated more than 1%.
NATO freeloaders
Granted, Trump’s framing of his criticism paints the US as a mob boss demanding protection money. But that’s probably what wannabe Mafia Don likes about his criticism.
Nevertheless, Trump isn’t wrong to call them freeloaders. After all, US presidents have been pleading for NATO members to pull their weight for decades.
To be fair, Trump stated he would only let Putin have his way with NATO members who refuse to meet their collective defense spending obligations. Arguably, that’s the kind of tough love these penny-wise-pound-foolish nations need to realize that their entire GDP amounts to zilch if Mother Russia decides that, after Ukraine, they’re next.
Incidentally, many dismiss French President Emmanuel Macron as a wannabe Napoleon. But Trump’s NATO bullying is vindicating his long-standing call for the EU to build a military alliance independent of, and even to counter, the US.
Biden rebukes unpatriotic Trump
Frankly, Biden calling Trump “un-American” for threatening NATO is like Captain America scolding Loki for being a bad boy. In a real-world context, Trump is playing schoolyard bully, and Biden, the school principal trying to maintain order.
In any event, Trump’s antics have turned American politics into a circus. Biden’s plea for Republicans to pass new security aid for Ukraine and Israel amidst the ruckus feels like he’s trying to channel some good old American patriotism. But is it enough to drown out Trump’s drumbeat of criticism against NATO’s financial delinquents?
The pressing question remains: amidst this hoopla and chaos, are NATO members paying attention, or are they too busy penny-pinching to notice the looming Russian bear?
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