Trump Claims Credit for NATO After Bashing It for Years - Rolling Stone
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
"There would be no NATO if I didn't act strongly and swiftly," the former president said
By Peter Wade
President Donald Trump listens as he meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during the NATO summit at The Grove, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, in Watford, England.
Evan Vucci/AP
Former President Donald Trump, who has a long history of denigrating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and who, as president, discussed removing the U.S. from the alliance, has now claimed credit for its existence. He's also patting himself on the back for supplying Ukraine with weapons, despite once threatening to withhold security assistance from the country unless it helped smear Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
"I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump wrote in a statement released Monday. "There would be no NATO if I didn't act strongly and swiftly."
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
"I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars. There would be no NATO if I didn't act… pic.twitter.com/i2toF05WIM
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) February 28, 2022
"It was me that got Ukraine the very effective anti-tank busters (Javelins) when the previous Administration was sending blankets. Let History so note!" Trump added, conveniently ignoring that he was impeached for withholding $400 million worth of congressionally approved military aid from the nation in an attempt to extort President Volodymyr Zelensky into manufacturing dirt on Biden and his family.
The statement is yet another attempt by Trump to rewrite "History" by painting himself as NATO's greatest ally. In one of the former president's books, The America We Deserve, which was published in 2000, he claimed that money the U.S. sent to NATO was wasted. "America has no vital interest in choosing between warring factions whose animosities go back centuries in Eastern Europe," he wrote, according to The Daily Beast. "Their conflicts are not worth American lives. Pulling back from Europe would save this country millions of dollars annually. The cost of stationing NATO troops in Europe is enormous. And these are clearly funds that can be put to better use."
Trump's acrimony toward NATO continued into his presidential campaign and throughout his administration. In a 2016 interview with TheNew York Times, Trump described NATO as "obsolete" and "unfair, economically, to … the United States." As president, Trump berated other NATO nations for not meeting certain fundraising benchmarks and toyed with the idea of leaving the alliance. According to the Times, Trump in 2018 "told his top national security officials that he did not see the point of the military alliance, which he presented as a drain on the United States."
Reacting to the news Trump wanted to withdraw from NATO, Michele A. Flournoy, who served as under secretary of defense under former President Barack Obama, told the Times that to do so "would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to U.S. interests."
While he is now trying to portray himself as Ukraine's savior and on Saturday called Russia's attack "appalling," Trump only days before praised Putin for the invasion, saying on a podcast, "Putin declared a big portion of … Ukraine … as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. … I said, 'How smart is that?'"
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Trump breaking up, or severely damaging NATO was the precursor for Putin's rebuilding of the Soviet Union. Fortunately, like most everything else he tries, Trump failed at that too.
a lifetime of taking credit for the efforts of others...
Just think if trmp had been re-elected. We might be a satellite of the former USSR
You know who Putin is most afraid of? Hillary!
If Trump had been re-elected, we would probably see the Whitehouse on the Russian version of Airbnb.
...apparently, at least according to Republicans, our military would still be in Afghanistan, inflation would have shrunk contrary to economic realities, everyone would be vaccinated despite most vaccine holdouts being conservative Trump supporters and fewer people would have died from Covid and its variants with Trumps no mask, no social distancing recommendations. /s
And a lifetime of lying!
(But perhaps what's even worse is that many Americans still believe he is telling the truth...)
And perhaps the worst of the lot, while trying to hide their bizarre goals..are easily recognizable by their praise of Q-Anon...and more recently while still believing they can fool us... their use of the "Let's Go Brandon" label.. and their ongoing praise of Putin, Trump, etc
Which are all fool proof indications that they are anti-democracy, racist...and are actually strongly against the principles of the Constitution.
And perhaps the worst of the lot, while trying to hide their bizarre goals..are easily recognizable by their praise of Q-Anon...and more recently while still believing they can fool us... their use of the "Let's Go Brandon" label.. and their ongoing praise of Putin, Trump, etc
Which are all fool proof indications that they are anti-democracy, racist...and are actually strongly against the principles of the Constitution.
Anyone else notice this?
If Trump had been re-elected...
...apparently, at least according to Republicans, our military would still be in Afghanistan, inflation would have shrunk contrary to economic realities, everyone would be vaccinated despite most vaccine holdouts being conservative Trump supporters and fewer people would have died from Covid and its variants with Trumps no mask, no social distancing recommendations. /s
Yes-- but perhaps worst of all...many people would still be wearing masks against Covid-- and as every "Let's Go Brandon" moron knows, the atrocities committed by Stalin, Hitler and their ilk pales in comparison to the wearing masks to prevent the spread of a potentially deadly disease!
If I recall correctly, what had Trump pissed off with NATO was that they were leaning on the US and not fulfilling their obligations to the treaty. He was correct. Just look at Germany's current state of readiness . When Trump made the fuss he did, some NATO countries did start increasing their defense spending. Trump does deserve some credit, although not the amount he's claiming right now. That's simply a result of his narcissism. The credit should go to Putin, who scared the crap out of NATO.
Trump deserves all the credit for cajoling and guilt tripping NATO into increased defense spending while he was President.
Then I'm sure you'll give Obama 'all the credit' for the increases in contributions from NATO countries during his term, right?
What a hit piece this is. The only reason Trump dissed NATO and threatened to leave was due to the fact the he felt the rest of the membership wasn't paying enough and the US was taking the brunt of the expense. He got them to pony up some more $$$ and so we stayed. JFC how short the TDS addled memories are.
He did get the other NATO members to throw in more money, I'll give him that much
I wouldn't give him dick.
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Do you really think this advances the discussion? Why do you so often post stuff like this? Why does your argument so often never rise above the level of propaganda and emotional appeal? This is serious stuff. Are you here just to throw stones or would you actually like to attempt to make an argument for your case in hope of coming to some sort of consensus?
And this goes for everyone on the other side who post the same sort of childish nonsense. It's as if you all are intentionally doing all you can to create division.
When you can't make a cogent argument or comment, you resort to memes. A few of our members seem to have that same affliction a lot lately.
I don't think, for some, an honest adult conversation is possible. There are a few that, when challenged or are pressed for substantiating material to back up a claim they resort to this behavior. I'm sure you've noticed that if it's not memes they just post the typical "nuh uh" comments and run away.
Jim and Jeremy
Yeah, I get it. And to be honest, who doesn't appreciate a good meme? I even see the humor in the one JBB posted, even though I disagree with it. But we have to do better. Mostly because this place is made of the usual suspects. We all want to do the right thing. We all want to make things better. I often complain about the clown show I consider our government to be. But we don't seem to be doing much better.
Lately, though, what bothers me most about all this is that it more and more feels like we're pissing all over Perrie's benevolence in providing this space for us to interact. And, if we can't do better than what we are doing in here, how are we going to do better outside of this space?
You mean you could?
Don't you just hate when facts interrupt a running fictional narrative.
We'll let you know when you provide any facts.
And we will continue to point out the facts to you so you can learn.
Some folks never provide any facts so I don't know why they'd bother pointing out someone else's alleged facts.
Some folks don't have a clue as to what a fact is, which is why we must point them out to them continually.
Pretty sure that Russian bots pretending to be Americans have no facts.
Trump Confirms He Threatened to Withdraw from NATO - Atlantic Council
I am sure you think you have a point but what the hell is it.........
But, but, but - he dissed NATO!
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Trump is on record more than once saying he would be happy for the United States to leave NATO and in fact he is quoted in at least one book as saying he would take it up in his second term.
What we don't know is what he promised Putin behind closed doors at Helsinki.
Yep. He was pissed we were paying more than anyone. He got 'em to pony up some more so that we weren't left carrying the majority of the load. And Helsinki again? LMAO
I understand your point Dulay despite other's pretending not to.
Perhaps you can share then. I never said Trump didn't threaten to dump NATO. So, tell us, what was the point of the referenced post to me?
Thanks,
I'd say something but I'm sure someone would flag it - like they flag everything I post - then I'd get another ticket.
Not unless it was against the rules.............but good excuse for not responding with what you think the purpose was. I wouldn't either if I realized I made a mistake and couldn't after posting just for the sake of a gotcha. Good on ya.
Obtuse.
Didn't think so. You'd have been better off just not posting this one. I never denied Trump threatened to quit NATO so your post above was a moot "point"
Let's look:
That was YOU posting that in bold right Jim?
One spot.
And he got what he wanted. And never would have withdrawn. It was a means to an end. And was that public? I see one source in a Google search.
As the link states, it was in a speech in Charleston, WV, August 21, 2018.
BTFW, Trump LIED about the '$100 billion'. Shocking, I know...
NATO's budget is only about 2 billion a year.
Oh and 2/3 of the NATO countries STILL don't pay their 'equal share'.
Did you fail Accounting 101?
WTF are you talking about?
[deleted]
I swear this had to have come out in some Democratic Party talking points memo or something this week. Three days in a row now, we have seen dishonest stories trying to convince us that Trump tried to break up NATO.
And the sad part of it is, they think it has something to do with Putin instead of the real and repeated reasons he gave for it. $$$
Right. Because Putin somehow was waiting (or not: Georgia 2008, Crimea/Dunbas 2014) for the US to pull out of NATO so he could invade Europe. And so now that the US is still happily part of NATO, just like it always has been, somehow now is the perfect time for him to strike.
What, what?
I mean you wouldn’t believe people would try to make an argument this stupid, and yet . . . We have at least our third such seed in as many days.
the president routinely complains that other NATO members
Correct-- he's done everything he could to provoke anger vs NATO amongst Americans in his attempt to weaken NATO.
Trump is pushing NATO allies to spend more on defense. But so did Obama and Bush
I know that but the point is, who finally got them to pony up? He let them know he wasn't fucking around.
They actually started paying more under Obama.
Key words..............................And I know they did......................
Point being, donald did the same that several presidents before him did.
And yes he lied about when increases started to happen to make himself look better.
What kills me is that trumpturd acts like the money is coming out of his pocket.
You can say that about anything trump says - 'he lied'
[ deleted ]
[ Dissed NATO ]
"Their conflicts are not worth American lives. Pulling back from Europe would save this country millions of dollars annually. The cost of stationing NATO troops in Europe is enormous. And these are clearly funds that can be put to better use."
Makes sense to most rational people. Shouldn't these European NATO members pay their fair share for their defense?
[deleted]
"Their conflicts are not worth American lives.
Well, there are some Americans who have been saying that Ukraine's struggle is not ours-- that we shouod not help them inany way. Americans who've also praised the likes of Trump, Putin,and other tyrants.