Just curious. If trump blows up NATO....would our former allies be able to close our military bases

[Horse with no Name]

and shut their borders to US citizens?
Honestly, we all know he is beholden to putin. Who is to say that putin won't talk trump into attacking these countries using our military?
Who really knows? I know that this trumputin alliance is fucking scary.
If I were the leaders of the other countries I would be afraid of what he is going to do.

[tonyt53]

1. The US likely owns the property that the bases are located.

However, they can probably tell the US to remove its military forces.

What I see happening before the end of the year, is that Russia will mount an all out invasion of Ukraine. After that, who knows, maybe the reclamation of all the countries that were part of the USSR.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Poland and the Czech Republic would be on that list.

[AlexSFCA]

9. takeover of eastern europe while breaking EU

[maryellen99]

20. The Baltics. The Russian Navy has been on high alert since the start of the World Cup nt

[haele]

21. No, the U.S. contracts for the use of foreign land for those bases.

They aren't like embassies or consulates where we will buy the property lot in accordance with local laws to build our structure on; most U.S. bases are large tracts of land that we are allowed to call "U.S. property" only by virtue of the lease. If we close a base in a country, it reverts back to that country.

Spouse was stationed in Greenham Commons, UK, in the 1980's; when the U.S. closed that base, they cleared out all the equipment and any component infrastructure (generators, telco drops, comm. systems) they built, and England was left with the buildings, roads, and land.

Germany gets a crapload of land and natural resources back if we leave.

Haele

[sarcasmo]

2. No Doubt, Dolt 45 pulls the U.S. out of NATO, because Vlad said, make it so.

[Bettie]

4. And either pulls troops out of Europe

or helps Putin take over any country he pleases.

[sarcasmo]

12. I'm betting Dolt 45 pulls our troops out of Germany by Labor Day.

[Bettie]

15. I'm afraid that could happen

and Republicans in congress will do nothing about it, they'll just nod and smile while mouthing "MAGA"...and "More Money".

[Horse with no Name]

5. I have no doubt either

he has already started the foreplay with his base..."they owe us so much money".....yada yada yada

[SeattleVet]

6. They probably could, but it depends on the individual agreements.

There is a negotiated Status of Forces agreement with each country, and some parts are outside the NATO framework.

[Bettie]

16. That's assuming he or his party

care about breaking agreements.

I doubt they do. All they care about is pleasing Putin.

[angrychair]

7. Saying he would pull out of NATO does serious damage

BUT he does not have the authority to unilaterally void a treaty. It would require the Senate and based on the vote today that seems highly unlikely.

Doing so would be the end of the road for many, such an action is incredibly reckless and foolish.

It would (should?) trigger massive and unprecedented protest.

[haele]

22. The cost and loss of profits from pulling out of NATO will be enormous to the U.S.

Would he upset his Saudi and MIC backers by losing them money just because his Russian backers want to gut their economy grabbing territory from Europe?

Also, there's a significant cost to Russia if they make any moves now.
The invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine was only paid for because the long-term economic benefits of the Crimean ports and the sliver of Eastern Ukraine to get their infrastructure to those ports would give to the Oil and Gas pipelines - and other Russian Oligarch "businesses" - outweighed the cost to the overall Russian economy to prosecute a short war with Ukraine over it. Also, the fact that there were sufficient Russo-Ukrainian citizens aligned with the former Russian puppet leader in East Ukraine to be able to influence local politics in those areas did a lot to help the Russians when they invaded. Post WWII Stalin moving whole Russian communities to replace the depleted native Ukrainians from the Russian interior for "farming" tied local cultural identity to the Soviet mindset.
I don't think the same amount of "Russian cultural" influences exist anymore in Estonia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, etc...

If we pull out of NATO, pulling our assets out of Eastern Europe as well as Germany - and we all know that Russia wants its old Soviet satellite nations back as a buffer against "The West" - I really don't think that Russia has the manpower or resources to take those countries unless they can first install solid "friendly" governments as they have in the U.S.(and I understand they've been trying to bribe the U.K. nationalists and conservatives into heading that way), even if they can destabilize those old Eastern Bloc countries.
Those eastern bloc countries have had a taste of the West, and the majority of the population in those countries enjoys being part of the EU and the subsequent Western lifestyle (even if the nationalists amongst them don't like immigration).

Russia will have to expend significant costs to maintain political destabilization and build nationalist isolation of those countries for a significant period - perhaps decades - before they can successfully push to gain those countries back militarily.

Haele

[RKP5637]

8. Trump once said something to the effect of how powerful it would be if the US and Russia

joined forces. I don't have a link, but someone on DU did verify once this is correct, something to the effect of that wording. I don't care for secrets between Putin and Trump. Trump's totally an unhinged cannon and Putin is a master manipulator and far more intelligent than Trump. Hard to tell WTF might be going on.

[Horse with no Name]

10. I know I don't sleep well at night anymore

and reluctant to look at media first thing in the am because I am afraid of what he has done to the world while we slept.

[sarcasmo]

13. 1:30 AM is my average the last 530 plus days.

[Bettie]

17. I have the same problem

can't fall asleep, up early with the feeling of impending doom hanging over my head.

[Historic NY]

11. The host state own the base

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Status of Forces Agreement of 1951 (SOFA) and the Visiting Forces Act of 1952.
Status of Forces Agreements allow a sending State’s military forces to operate within, and at the consent of, the host state. Many have shared use agreements.

[RainCaster]

14. What if NATO preemptively booted 45?

"we don't trust you, send Obama to represent the US"

[MichMary]

18. Why would they want to?

Those thousands of American soldiers, and their dependents, pump lots of money into the local economies. Kicking them all out would be the very definition of biting off their noses to spite their faces.

[Hangingon]

19. Every troop reduction in Germany has resulted in a trip by a bunch of burgermeisters to D.C.

Lots of money at stake here.