Expect Trump to brag about getting the EU and other allies to pay more into UN

[Boogiemack]

i hope Biden is ready to explain that paying more does not mean they pay more to UN or to US and that it means they simply increase their on military readiness.

Also expect Trump to try to claim the best economy in history. I hope Joes has the numbers at hand to explain that Trump simply built upon Obama's recovering economy and while the last unemployment numbers before the pandemic represented a 1.7 to 3.7 drop from Obama's number, unemployment under Obama dropped by 4.8 points from 10.2 to 5.4. Plus Obama was handed a recession economy, Trump was handed a steadily recovering economy.

Still not going to watch the orange fiasco. I have lost too much to COVID mismanagement.

[karynnj]

1. There was already an Obama era agreement that they would increase their spending

Biden was often the point person for the administration at NATO meetings -- so Trump may be in for a surprise. Someone who can cite chapter and verse on the reality.

Think 2004, when Bush forgot he was not speaking to Fox News at the first debate. In response to a question of why he ordered the Iraq attack, he said that they hit us. When Kerry responded he did so saying to look at what was said - then said that Saddam Hussein did not attack us OBL did. This left Bush sputtering, "I know that, I know that." (This hit in two ways - he looked like he was caught in a major error (as he was) AND on the right, his correction hit their theme that the war was justified by 911.)

Here, NATO was not only committed to paying more -- they were supporting the US led coalition that was fighting ISIS as well as continuing their effort in Afghanistan. We were seen as the leader of the free world and in many important ways, NATO worked with us. Under Trump, the issue is not whether we lead, but if they can trust us on anything. Not to mention, as you said, the commitment is mostly on the % of GDP that a country will pay on their own military.

[cilla4progress]

2. Plus

the deficit?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. NATO, not 'UN'

and presumably you mean 'European countries' - NATO and EU membership overlap, but each has some not in the other.