We are worried about Trump because the EU has consistently failed to provide for it's own defense since WWII, thus it's dependent upon America, and now, dependent upon Trump.
This ongoing dependency invites aggression from Russia, and is inexcusable given that the EU is FAR RICHER than Russia. It seems that numerous American presidents have attempted to address European dependency, and they've all failed to fix it, for decades.
What's really happening is that the EU has been outsourcing much of it's defense spending to American taxpayers for decades, thus making it easier for European politicians to get elected by handing European voters the generous benefits of the European welfare states.
Because Trump is a cynical transactional realist, he understands that the Europeans are not going to give up the free ride gravy train until a generous dose of tough love is applied. And so he says things like "if you don't meet your defense spending targets, we don't care what happens to you".
Democrats addicted to one sided tribal chanting label this a horrible remark, because it is. But it's a necessary horrible remark. History has shown that nothing other than forcing Europeans to stare in to the dark abyss of Russian conquest will get them off their ass. And until they get off their ass, and take responsibility for the defense of their own continent, Putin is going to keep thinking that he can cleverly manipulate the situation.
It would absurd to say that Europe should be responsible for the defense of America's southern border, right? It's equal absurd to assume that America should be responsible for the defense of Europe's eastern border, for this specific reason which doesn't get mentioned enough by the experts.
PLEASE NOTE: The EU is far richer than Russia.
Trump is a horrible person. And he's very wrong about very many things. But that doesn't automatically equal him being wrong about literally everything.
When it comes to European defense, Trump seems to have insights and abilities which his predecessors clearly lacked, or EU dependency on America would not still be a problem 80 years after WWII.
Sometimes a transactional asshole is what the situation requires.
As to NATO and Ukraine...
We are worried about Trump because the EU has consistently failed to provide for it's own defense since WWII, thus it's dependent upon America, and now, dependent upon Trump.
This ongoing dependency invites aggression from Russia, and is inexcusable given that the EU is FAR RICHER than Russia. It seems that numerous American presidents have attempted to address European dependency, and they've all failed to fix it, for decades.
What's really happening is that the EU has been outsourcing much of it's defense spending to American taxpayers for decades, thus making it easier for European politicians to get elected by handing European voters the generous benefits of the European welfare states.
Because Trump is a cynical transactional realist, he understands that the Europeans are not going to give up the free ride gravy train until a generous dose of tough love is applied. And so he says things like "if you don't meet your defense spending targets, we don't care what happens to you".
Democrats addicted to one sided tribal chanting label this a horrible remark, because it is. But it's a necessary horrible remark. History has shown that nothing other than forcing Europeans to stare in to the dark abyss of Russian conquest will get them off their ass. And until they get off their ass, and take responsibility for the defense of their own continent, Putin is going to keep thinking that he can cleverly manipulate the situation.
It would absurd to say that Europe should be responsible for the defense of America's southern border, right? It's equal absurd to assume that America should be responsible for the defense of Europe's eastern border, for this specific reason which doesn't get mentioned enough by the experts.
PLEASE NOTE: The EU is far richer than Russia.
Trump is a horrible person. And he's very wrong about very many things. But that doesn't automatically equal him being wrong about literally everything.
When it comes to European defense, Trump seems to have insights and abilities which his predecessors clearly lacked, or EU dependency on America would not still be a problem 80 years after WWII.
Sometimes a transactional asshole is what the situation requires.
Thanks Joe and Bill. Always good to hear from you!