In Pointed Letters, Trump Demands More Defense Spending From NATO Allies
Source: The New York Times
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
July 2, 2018
WASHINGTON — President Trump has written sharply worded letters to the leaders of several NATO allies, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, taking them to task for spending too little on their own defense and warning that the United States is losing patience with their failure to meet security obligations shared by the alliance.
The letters, which went out last month, are the latest sign of acrimony between Mr. Trump and American allies as he heads to a NATO summit meeting next week in Brussels that will be a closely watched test of the president’s commitment to the trans-Atlantic alliance after he has repeatedly questioned its value and claimed that its members are taking advantage of the United States.
They raised the prospect of a second bitterly contentious confrontation between the president and United States allies after a blowup by Mr. Trump at the Group of 7 gathering last month in Quebec, and highlighted the worries of European allies that far from projecting solidarity in the face of threats from Russia, their meeting will highlight divisions within the alliance. That would play into the hands of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who is to meet with Mr. Trump in Helsinki after the NATO meeting, and whose prime goal is sowing divisions within NATO.
“As we discussed during your visit in April, there is growing frustration in the United States that some allies have not stepped up as promised,” Mr. Trump wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in a particularly pointed version of the letter, according to someone who saw it and shared excerpts with The New York Times. “Continued German underspending on defense undermines the security of the alliance and provides validation for other allies that also do not plan to meet their military spending commitments, because others see you as a role model.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/world/europe/trump-nato.html
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from page 28.....paragraph 2 .........."If an asset figures out that a spy is handling him, but the rewards make it worth his while, he becomes a WITTING ASSET"....................
November 2018 cannot get here fast enough...............get out and vote
Apparently the reason for this commitment was to contain Russia after Putin grabbed Crimea. At that time no one knew how hungry Putin was for more territory in Eastern Europe or elsewhere. He already had a history of aggression in Georgia in 2008.
And now Private Bonespurs wants the NATO allies to cough up more money (for the purpose of containing Russia) while he is actively working against the whole premise by buddying up to and helping Putin.
