Yesterday, President Donald Trump chastised the many members of the NATO alliance for not living up to their commitment to spend 2% of their GNP n defense. Of NATO's 28 members only Great Britain, Estonia, Greece, Poland and the United States are meeting or exceeding this commitment. For decades the other 23 countries, including France and Germany, have shirked this commitment without recourse ... relying on the United States to pick up the slack. And when Trump reminded those slackers of their deficiencies, the representative from Luxembourg turned the Macron, the President of France, with a hand-covered snide remark and a snicker ... see: Fox News Video. To me, this is the height of sophomoric haughtiness. Perhaps Trump will find a way to remind this Euro-jerk of America's part in the history of 20th Century Europe.
And I have a prediction ... yes, some of these countries now in default (I'm thinking France and Germany) will find a way of meeting this NATO treaty obligation ... but do it with accounting tricks and not with genuine military buildups. Wait and see.
I think Trump is correct on this issue, although his speech was ham-handed and jejune. BTW, Macron has a better command of English.
ReplyDeleteHam-handed sometimes works ...
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